Kage no Monogatari
by Lost to the Hoping
Summary: Tales of the Shadows, Naruto oneshot and request dump. Please review! Various pairings, gen, het, yaoi and yuri. Be forewarned.
1. Filling the Void

**Filling the Void  
Fandom: Naruto  
Summary: But we're empty, we're always empty, and these things we do are a sad, vain attempt to fill the void. But the nature of a void is to be unending, and so we are doomed to failure over and over again.  
A/N: So basically, I'm starting a Naruto-verse request dump! Cuz... I have various ideas for random pairings that either don't get off the ground or do, but I never do anything with them! (I'm horrible) So if you have a request, please PM me. Until then, enjoy.**

xXx

We've been best friends since we were little, remember? I've always watched you, always tried to be you. That was my one and only goal as we grew up. I wanted what you had, that confidence, that beauty, that popularity with everyone that looked at you. You could step into a room and turn heads. Light up the night sky on a new moon. You always, always knew just what to do in every situation. From consoling a friend to arranging flowers, to standing up to relentless bullies.

I admired everything about you, even when we hated each other over that... boy.

I finally got my hands on you, of course. It was all heat, and passion, and perhaps a bit more alcohol than either of us thought we could handle. Fingers digging into flesh, clothing tearing in our haste to disrobe, and then mouths, mouths, hands and nails and sweet moans of ecstasy.

The next morning, you were gone, and I hadn't felt any more fulfilled than I had before we'd done it. In fact, I felt a little bit more empty now. I curled into a ball and cried.

Over the weeks, neither of us mentioned it, and you didn't meet my gaze for a while. When I confronted you, you gave as good as you got. There was yelling, and fists, and the pain of impact. We were going to end up with bruises all over, but neither of us cared, because we were just so damn _angry_.

Angry it had happened, angry it had changed things, angry it couldn't continue. Angry that neither of us could come up with a good reason why. Maybe it was that hollow inside the spurred us on, made us fight and cry and fight again.

I don't know. We're empty, we're always empty, and these things we do are a sad, vain attempt to fill the void. But the nature of a void is to be unending, and so we are doomed to failure over and over again.

No matter how hard we try.

xXx

**Yeah... not my best, but... lol hope you like it anyway.**


	2. The Syndrome

**The Syndrome****  
****Part 1: The Jashinst****  
****Characters: HidanxHinata****  
****Description: Toto, she's not in Kansas anymore. Not even remotely close.****  
****Dedication: Azwhi, who wanted the pairing, and of course I will supply.****  
****Warning: Vague spoilers for Shippuuden, OOC, blood, swearing, Hidan.****  
****Rating: T**

**Prompt: HidanxHinata**

**Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use without my express permission. Thank you.**

**Word count: 10,186**

**A/N: Alright. I have a confession to make. This is REALLY long. Seriously. Don't **_**expect**_** any of the other chapters to be this long. Ever. I'm not saying some won't inspire me like this one has, but I was actually considering on not posting this to **_**Kage no Monogatari**_** simply because it was so long. Anyway, read, enjoy, and review! Thanks!******

When Hinata wakes up, she's surrounded by men. Blood-thirsty, scary, cloaked men. One is even inches from her face, and the girl just goes with instinct on that one. Developed instinct that has nothing to do with Naruto. She jyuukens him out of her face.****

**"**OH NO! DEIDARA-SEMPAI!" another yells frantically, and races over to the man now sitting up, holding his nose.****

**"**Shuddup, Tobi! You're hurting my ears, mm!" the blond yells back. But he doesn't lash out in favor of pinching his broken nose shut, and then popping it back into alignment.****

Hinata can hear the sound all the way across the room, and she winces. "S-sorry," she offers meekly, also an instinct she has developed. Then she realizes she probably _shouldn't_be sorry, because it's a bit obvious to her where she is at the current time. And Toto, she's not in Kansas anymore. Not even remotely close.****

Anyway, she was pretty sure 'Deidara' had been eying her boobs.****

The other two men with them burst into snickers at the commotion, drawing Hinata's attention. One of them is the man that took her. She can remember him, popping up in front of her after she sent her team running. She knows absolutely nothing about the vibrantly colored albino, short of what she can see with her own eyes.****

But she knows right then that she had made the right choice in sending her precious genin back to Konoha. There's no way in hell they could have held up against Akatsuki at their current level.****

**"**Wh-what do you w-want with me?" she demands, with as much bravado as she could muster.****

Somehow, her stuttering was amusing, and the albino just laughed harder. The blue man beside him was slowly starting to calm, and offers her a very shark-like grin. "Who says we want something, _Hyuuga-hime_?" he asks teasingly. "You just showed up in the wrong place at the wrong time."****

The albino gasps for breath, and adds, "Yeah... Tobi wanted a pet!" But he isn't capable of saying anything more, because he's too busy laughing.****

It's really starting to annoy her. "H-hey! Stop l-laughing at me!" she says, which only serves to send him into louder peals. She reaches out for the first thing she can get her hands on - a brush - and throws it at him. It bounces ineffectually off his chest, but it's enough to cut him short.****

He abruptly straightens and looks at her, looks at the blue one, and looks at her. He grins. "Gotta fucking problem, bitch?"****

**"**Yes!" she snaps, managing not to stumble over the word. She frowns at him and points at her satchel, which is strewn all over the table beside her bed. That was where the brush had come from. "You went through my stuff!"****

The albino smirks at his blue companion, getting an answering grin, and shrugs. "Yeah, so fucking what? There wasn't anythin' interesting. Not even a single damn vibrator."****

She just _knows_her face can light up a dark room, it's burning that much. "Y-you're disgusting!" she squeaks.****

**"**Stop flirting, mm!" the blond said suddenly, now standing. "Help me interrogate her or get the hell out!"****

The albino feigns a yawn, turning around. "Bo-oring," he comments, and leaves without another word. The blue one follows him out, and leaves her with the blond and the twitchy masked man that she fears is suffering from schizophrenia.****

Somehow, this doesn't seem like it's going to be good.****

xXx****

She eventually learns their names. Hidan, Kisame, Deidara and Tobi. They're in one of many hide-outs peppered all over the continent, and both Kisame's and Hidan's partners are off on solo missions elsewhere. She also learns that Kisame's partner is none other than the much feared Konoha nuke-nin Uchiha Itachi.****

After hearing that, she's actually a little glad that it's Kisame and _not_Uchiha that is the one here with her. The thought of meeting the infamous Uchiha in person really terrifies her.****

Hinata has occasionally heard mention of the mysterious leader of the Akatsuki, but none of them ever say his name. It's always "Leader-dono" this, and "Leader-dono" that. Even the leader's equally mysterious assistant is usually ever referred to as that "crazy lady". At least Akatsuki isn't gender specific.****

Hidan doesn't leave her alone, of course. No, the zealot takes perverse pleasure in tormenting her, usually with hardly-subtle sexual advances, comments, flirtations. It unnerves her and annoys her usually.****

Lately, though, he's stopped being hands-off. It's her own fault, really. When he'd accidentally brushed her side while poking at her wounds - under the guise of rebandaging them, but she knows he was just doing it to see her half-naked - she could have just not reacted. But no, she had to yelp and jerk away. The grin he'd given her, she knew, was a bad sign.****

After that, his hands were all over the place. Fingers dancing up her sides, palm brushing her hip, her backside, nails digging lightly into her wrist. It never really _hurt_... it was a bit of a discomfort, but he never went out of his way to make her bleed.****

From what she's gathered of his personality - both through observation as well as comments from the others - she is a little surprised that this is the case. Not that she's about to tell him as much.****

xXx****

It's the second time in a month that Hinata wakes up disoriented. For some reason, she's upside down, and there's a familiar butt in her face. A white, furry butt. "Akamaru?" she mumbles.****

**"**She's awake!" she hears a voice yell, and Akamaru slows in his running, dropping to the forest floor. Then Kiba is dragging her up out of her hanging position, hugging her close and whispering that he's got her, he's not going to let it happen again.****

Shino's beside them now, muttering that they need to continue soon, because otherwise the enemy will catch up. He has _no idea_how right he is, for in the next instant, the five of them - yes, Kurenai-sensei is there too, as well as Lee, weirdly - are attacked. Kurenai yells for them to put up their guards.****

Then she's engaged by slim, tall Tobi. Hidan roars as he attacks Kiba and Akamaru, while Lee races to fight Kisame. Shino is left to Deidara, and Hinata finds herself just standing there, watching.****

She's not sure what to do. She should help her comrades, right? But, for some reason, there's this fog in her head that's keeping her from figuring out who her comrades are. There's laughter, mad laughter, and the ground is shaking with the force of the fighting. A loud voice is taunting someone, and someone else - someone closer to her - is yelling angrily, his words echoed by the low rumble of growling.****

**"**_HINATA, WATCH OUT!"_****

The words are thrown in her face, and her eyes widen as a white bird flutters in front of her. Then the world is white, her body is squeezed in a vise and she's flying. There's no noise, just the white. Hell, there isn't even any pain, and for a moment, she wonders if she's died and is going to heaven.****

But then the white becomes less of a blanket, and more a tumble of messed-up hair. White hair. She's sprawled out on the ground, with Hidan crouched over her, face scrunched up in an expression of pain.****

Hinata forces herself to move beyond the haze, the fog, and _focus_on the man. "H-Hidan? What..."****

**"**Damn freak," he grunts, and collapses right on top of her.****

She can hear the others approaching, yelling, trying to fight their way to her, only to be stopped by the other Akatsuki. She struggles quickly out from under the albino and glances toward the others. Then, swallowing, she braces his arm over her shoulders, uses chakra to get up and keep _him_up, and takes off.****

She leaves them all behind.****

xXx****

Hinata tends Hidan's injuries the best she can. He doesn't wake up for a while, but as luck would have it, he finally does as she's changing the bandaging on his back. She knows he's awake because he moans in a weird combination of pain and pleasure.****

It weirds her out, but she finishes quickly and helps him sit up. "H-how do you feel?" she asks worriedly, searching his face.****

Hidan grins at her weakly. "Knew I rubbed off on you," he teases, and snickers when she blushes. Then he winces. "Where the hell are we, anyway?" He glances around. "And how fucking long have I been out?"****

**"**We're in a cave," she tells him quietly. "Rain country. You were... unconscious for about a day."****

He gives her a measuring look and finally pulls away. "Yeah? Why?" he asks, watching her very carefully.****

Hinata fidgets under his gaze, looking down at her lap. "I d-don't know. I j-just... sort of... s-saved you. I-I think I was drugged... because I c-couldn't think very well at first."****

**"**Yeah, Tobi drugged you earlier," the albino agrees, and grimaces. "Fucking Deidara..." He shakes his head, as if to clear it, and continues. "It's uh... Standard procedure if we have a prisoner whose calvary is nearby." He gestures toward her. "So you can't give away any damn information before we can get you back. If they even fucking manage to get you in the first damn place."****

The Hyuuga nods slowly, having figured as much. It's a sound plan, after all. "H-Hidan? Can I ask... a question?" She peeks up when he says nothing, and he just nods, so she swallows and looks down again. "Why do you... I mean... what is Akatsuki..."****

**"**What the hell are we plottin', you mean?" he asks, a grin in his voice. When she nods, he snorts and leans heavily against the wall. "Leader-dono wants world peace, but the rest of us have our own damn plans."****

She peeks up again, nibbling her lip for a moment before she asks, "What's yours?"****

**"**Eh, don't really got none, other than serving the almighty Jashin-sama," he says, smirking at her. He reaches out with the hand that isn't propping his weight up, and takes hers, interlacing their fingers. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in serving him, would you?"****

**"**No," she says flatly, prompting a chuckle from the man.****

Hidan releases her hand again, and it feels cold without his warmth. "Ah, can't blame a fucker for trying. You'd be a glorious Jashinist!"****

She's nibbling on her lip again at that, giving the proposal a second thought. It's irrational that she even is, but... maybe... "Y-you think so?" she asks softly, regaining his entire attention.****

He's grinning, obviously delighted to make her think twice. "I _know_so. You're already fucking hot! I bet you'd be sexy as hell, covered in blood."****

Maybe it's just that she's... she's tired of being taken for granted. She's tired of being ignored by the one man she has ever loved. She's tired of proving herself and proving herself, because nobody would believe she has any strength in her. Whatever it is, it makes her smile shyly at him, and say, "Show me."****

Hidan's expression is like Christmas came early. Except she doesn't think Jashinists celebrate Christmas.****

xXx****

Three days later, Hinata jerks awake when she realizes they're no longer alone. There's a silhouette, standing with their back to the cave entrance, and beyond them, a lightning storm rages. The Hyuuga starts to scramble up, but Hidan's hand on her shoulder keeps her down. "S'just Konan," he says, sitting up. "The fuck do you want?"****

The woman steps further into the cave, and her face is finally lit up by the dying fire. She's beautiful, Hinata thinks. Far more beautiful than the Hyuuga could ever hope to be. And she's wearing an Akatsuki cloak. The pieces click into place as Hinata realizes this must be the mysterious "Leader-dono's" assistant.****

**"**Hidan," the woman says, voice soft and smooth, like silk or water over rocks. "We've been looking for you. Leader-dono was concerned to hear that our esteemed guest took off with you."****

**"**Yeah? Why the fuck do you give a shit?" he demands, tense as he shifts slightly in front of the girl.****

**"**You're one of our members," the woman says, smiling at them both. "Of course we care."****

But both Hinata and Hidan hear what isn't said. She cares because if either of them went missing, they would then become an unchecked liability that she and her master couldn't afford.****

**"**Hmph," Hidan returns, getting to his feet shakily. Hinata hurries to help him, and he drapes an arm around her shoulders before dragging her against his side. "Gotta new recruit, Konan. She's gonna learn my religion." He grins, and even though it's a bit blood thirsty, Hinata is beginning to like the expression on his face. Which is weird. But she can roll with that.****

**"**Oh?" Konan smiles again, and it's a bit more real than before. She's pleased. "Then she'll have to become an official member of our organization, through initiation."****

The albino shrugs. "Whatever."****

Hinata eyes them both, and wonders - not for the first time or the last - if this is entirely a Good Idea.****

xXx****

Hinata is brought to the hideout and put into a cell, for "safe keeping" Hidan says. It's now that she starts to doubt her Life Choices. She curls up into a ball, fights the urge to hyperventilate and stares at a wall. She thinks over the things that brought her to this place, this choice.****

She thinks about Kiba. Wonderful, strong, loyal Kiba. Kiba who has loved her since the day they were put on the same genin team, maybe even before that. And Shino; strong and silent, the perfect knight for any rescue. Her best friend in the world, aside from Kiba.****

She's leaving them. She's leaving Naruto, the one man she has ever strived for. Hell, she hasn't even tried that hard for her _father_, but she changed everything so that Naruto would notice her. And he did, for a few minutes. But then he forgot again.****

Then there's Kurenai-sensei, and Hokage-sama, and Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan, the only one out of team seven who ever bothered seeing Hinata for who she was, and the only one whom Hinata has ever hated just a little bit. It's not Sakura-chan's fault that Naruto loves her instead. Hinata knows this, but she's still jealous of the other woman. Even now, as she prepares to become something she isn't just for a little attention.**  
****  
**No, it's more than that. Hidan is... almost _sweet_, now that she's actually managed to gain more than passing interest. Of course, he's also gruff, and rude, and loud, and coarse. But... she can live with that, because he _sees_her. When he looks at her, he's looking at what she is. He isn't looking at what she can do for him, though she imagines that might be a tiny part of it. He's seeing her for _her_, and that right there is what made her decision from the very beginning.****

He sees her as a woman, a kunoichi, not a bratty teammate or a love interest... or a wall.****

So when Hidan appears before the bars later that night, surprisingly somber-faced, she stands up, resolve firmed once more. "You ready?" he asks, eying her. "You'll just be a minion, y'know, in the Akatsuki's eyes. Far as I'm fuckin' concerned, though, you'll be my apprentice. You really want it?"****

She swallows the urge to smile at him, at the wary consideration on his face. "Yes, I want it," she mumbles, then scolds herself and speaks up. "I do. And I'm ready."****

He breaks out into a vicious grin. "Hell yeah!"****

The cell is unlocked, and he brings her to a floor even further below them. This floor is even darker than the prisoner cells, though not really as wet. Still, Hinata knows they're being watched as they walk down long hall after long hall. They come to a dead end, and she wonders briefly what's going on.****

Then there's a plant, or a man, or something, leaning through the wall ahead of them. "Password please," he asks politely, and then adds, "**Or I'll cut your fucking tongue out, bitch**."****

**"**Fuck you, whore," Hidan retorts, and grimaces. "I will write peace on your wings, and you will fly all over the world."****

The man, his face barely visible amongst the leaves of some sort of fly trap, grins and melts into the wall. A moment later, a door appears to their left, and Hidan leads them through that as well.****

She's brought into a large chamber. There is nothing in it, except a single altar dead center. Hidan stops and turns to look at her. "Go to the altar. There's a bowl." He reaches forward and grabs her hand, places a kunai in it. "A few drops from your finger should do it. Don't gotta bleed yourself out or anything." He smirks at her. "Don't break a leg, hot stuff."****

She snorts in a very unladylike manner at that. "That was corny," she replies, and obediently walks away from him.****

Her steps slow the closer she gets to the altar, until she stops completely five feet away. Hesitates. Then she swallows, reminding herself of her reasons, and continues to kneel before the altar. She does as he told her to, watching in morbid fascination as her blood drips into the empty silver bowl.****

Silence falls for a minute, and then power surges. And it's _real_power, too. Not just chakra, not just life-force. It's everything. It's pain, and anger, and sorrow. It's love and pleasure like nothing she's ever felt before. It's like running into the warm embrace of her mother, crying into her shoulder in breathless relief. It's like the Earth has reached up and dragged her down with it, clinging to her very soul, claiming her for itself-****

And then it's over with. Hinata sits in a dark cavern, head down turned and eyes focused on her knees. There's an almost painful silence around her, trying to choke her. Her heart is hammering in her chest, her throat is closed up and her lungs hurt.**  
****  
**A hand on her shoulder brings her gaze up, to realize that she's surrounded by the Akatsuki members. Konan has knelt beside her, a tiny smile on her face. "Breathe, Hinata. Welcome to Akatsuki."****

It's a feeling that she will never forget.****

xXx****

**The Syndrome****  
****Part 2: Learning the Ropes******

xXx****

Time passes. Sometimes quickly, other times it slows down to a heart breaking pace. Hinata doesn't leave the Akatsuki compound for a year. She spends some of the time with Hidan, and even has a civil conversation with Kakuzu (she suggests a money trick her father used to save, and Kakuzu suddenly likes her a lot more). Occasionally, she is able to sit with the others.****

Konan will talk to her like they've known each other for years. Hinata thinks that the other woman is glad to finally have a girl to talk to, and not just girly men. This opinion is further enforced after Konan takes up her hair and braids it idly while they're discussing strategy. It's not the last time to happen, either, because Konan does notice how Hinata doesn't even protest.****

She's starved for the attention too.****

Tobi is strange. Sometimes he's quiet, in an absent way as he stares out a window or spaces out near a wall. Then he's loud and exuberant like Naruto. Hinata can never stand to be around him then, but when he's quiet, she barely notices he's there.****

She has a feeling that he never forgets her.****

Deidara-san tends to be a bit on the wild side. He'll be laughing and taunting one minute, and then switch to blind, white rage the next. His fingers are long, and slender, and she admits that she finds him attractive sometimes. Mostly because - weird mouths aside - she likes his hands.****

He reminds her a bit of Kiba, when he's in a good mood, and she's even managed to get him to talk about what he likes to her. Not that it's hard to do, all she has to do is say that she sketches sometimes.**  
**  
Then the blond is ranting about how true art is meant to be brief, final. He offers to show her, but Tobi suddenly appears and tries to glomp him. Hinata escapes in the ensuing scuffle.****

Hinata can _never_stand to be around Uchiha Itachi. She fears him, more than she fears any of the others. She cringes when he passes her in the hall, and breathes a sigh of relief when he's gone.****

Of course, these encounters with the other members are far between. The group still has an agenda, and they are usually gone. For the first year, Hinata tends to get left behind a lot, though she usually has at least Konan to keep her company. Since they're in the Rain hideout, where the woman lives, she doesn't leave unless she has an important mission to carry out for her mysterious leader.****

Still, in all, it's a rather pleasant year.****

xXx**  
****  
**Soon enough, Hidan's lessons - which had been few and far due to his own duties - pick up when he tells her she'll start traveling with him. He teaches her about blood, and pain, and pleasure. He tells her that magic, glory, awaits believers.****

He teaches her everything, the incantations, the rituals, the rules. Jashin demands blood, though Hidan says the God isn't particular about what kind. This relieves Hinata, especially when Hidan explains that he doesn't usually waste the blood of random bystanders. He tends to only offer the blood of his enemies.****

It's a good idea, she thinks, and perhaps she should consider doing it too.****

A month after she makes her first kill - a Sound nin outside the border of Hi no Kuni, leading into Yu no Kuni - Hidan tells her that she's ready to be taught the most important lesson. He takes her to to the marshes in Numa no Kuni, strips her naked and leaves her with only the words, "Have no fear."****

Now she's alone, and Hidan is gone. There's no one to protect her, but she holds onto those words like a security blanket. She walks. There are critters occasionally, snakes sliding through the springy moss, that snap at her ankles hungrily when she pauses. A leech falls onto her shoulder at one point, but she swallows her fear and jerks it off, throwing it away.****

There's something creeping after her, stalking her through the waters, and Hinata skitters away from it. A part of her knows that if she falters, Hidan will leave her to die, and that is not what she wants. She wants him to be proud of her, to kiss her on the mouth in celebration. She wants to feel pleasure at his fingertips, wants him to make love to her.****

She knows it won't happen if she shows fear, and so she continues to walk. She doesn't know what she's supposed to do, but she is expecting an attack at any time. "_Have no fear_," spoken as if expecting her to be gobbled up.****

Truthfully, she feels vulnerable, walking through the marshes without clothing like this. What if she's seen, spotted by a native? But the natives don't get the chance.****

She's climbing a tree, seeking the yellow fruit in its boughs, hand reaching out for it... when something slick and wet wraps around her leg,slime curling up her skin. She yelps as she's dragged down, making a loud _splat_when encountering the watery soil.****

Hinata thrashes, her only weapon her chakra. Something grabs her wrist, and she kicks out with her free leg. She escapes and scrambles up a nearby tree, crouching on a branch as she coughs out the marshwater in her lungs. Everything is absolutely still, the only sound that of the wind lightly blowing above the canopy.****

Not even the marsh life speaks any longer, fearing the predator that grasped at her. Hinata reaches out and grabs a smaller branch, breaking it off of the tree and pulling it close. She snaps pieces off until it's pointed at the end, and then she waits.****

The silence starts to lull lesser creatures into a false sense of security, and somewhere a toad croaks. Nearby, a bird sings uncertainly, chirping a call to his brothers. Stillness slowly comes to life.****

Then something rises up out of the deeper waters beneath her. It's large, and so dark green it's almost black. Razor sharp teeth gleam wetly as it opens a cat-like maw, releasing a horrible scream like a hundred dying mammals. An incongruously placed paw reaches out for her, slimy tentacles thrashing against the moss and spraying her with water.**  
****  
**Without hesitation, Hinata screams back and leaps, driving the pointed end of the branch into its skull, determination vicious and animalistic. She breaks it off, leaving it there, and ignores the sting of claws in her thigh. She leaps away, holding what little remains of the branch before her like a shield.****

Hinata watches the creature die, and then she collapses from blood-loss in the marshwater.****

xXx****

When she wakes, she's still there, the forest life loud around her, the cold corpse of the predator not far away. It looks like something that the gods put together out of leftover bits from other animals, and Hinata wonders if its alone, or if it has some sort of mate or pack.****

But she isn't afraid. She's survived, she's killed it and lived without fear. The feeling is beautiful, pure and sweet like the taste of blood in her mouth. Blood? Ah, she must have bitten her tongue when she fell.****

_Speaking of falling..._Pale eyes lower to stare at her gouged out thigh, and she momentarily boggles at how deep it is. She shouldn't be alive, hell she shouldn't even be awake with this kind of injury. Unless... _Unless I passed Jashin's test_.****

The cold clarity comes to her without any effort at all. "_Have no fear_," and the unspoken, _and you will never die_. She's like him now; she's a Jashinist.****

Pearl-colored eyes lift to stare at the thick canopy above her head, and she smiles faintly. "I'm yours, now, Jashin-sama."****

Hidan's waiting when she limps from the marshes, and he grins excitedly when she beams at him. "You passed!"****

**"**I did," she replies happily, and doesn't resist when he lifts her up and spins her around. Then he kisses her, and somehow she forgets about the mud all over her, or the fact that she's naked. Nothing else matters at all.****

xXx****

She and Hidan are separated, some months after that. He's trapped back in a valley, fighting Suna nin, and she's forced off toward the cliffs by others. She kills them, and races toward the caves she knows are there, because there is backup coming for the dead, and she needs to buy time to figure out a way around them.****

It's on the cliff edge that she realizes she's backed into a corner, as it were. Naruto steps out of the foliage, staring at her in disbelief. "Hinata-chan?" he says uncertainly. His eyes are lowered, focused on the cloak she wears these days, and then he meets her gaze. "I don't understand."****

She blinks at him bemusedly before dropping into a familiar stance. "Don't you?" she asks. "Isn't it obvious now? Don't worry about it, Naruto."****

He probably thinks that's the first time she's not called him Naruto-kun, and it's certainly the first time that she hasn't fainted around him. "No, it can't be," he says, looking so _betrayed_.****

Hinata feels a laugh bubbling up in her chest. "You really are just an idiot, aren't you? You're a fucking moron, Naruto."  
**  
****"**Naruto, around her neck," Sakura says suddenly, from the shadows.****

His blue, blue eyes lower, and narrow. "_No_, that can't be- What has that bastard done to you!?"****

She smiles at him, the pendant seeming heavier with his notice. "Nothing I didn't ask him to. And when I asked, he gave me everything I wanted," she tells him happily. "He's given me the world, and immortality. I'll never die, Naruto. That's what he's given me... It's beautiful."****

Naruto looks sick, like he isn't sure whether he should vomit or not. "Come home, Hinata-chan. Come back with me..."****

**"**What?" She's honestly surprised by the offer, but quickly reminds herself that he only cares because he's selfish. Naruto has always been selfish that way, always hated the thought that others would walk away from him for their own destinies. Look at Sasuke, and at Neji. They lived their lives in ways that he didn't like, and he'd gone so far as to change things.****

**"**You can come back," he says, reaching out for her. "We'll face them together. They won't be angry, it's-"****

She slaps his hand away, stepping back until her heel dangles over the edge of the cliff, only her toes keeping purchase. "You don't understand yet, do you, Naruto? I'm not the same person you knew... Once, I loved you, Naruto, do you see? And every time you turned me away..."****

The blond is staring at her like she's struck him across the face, and she knows it's cruel, but it's also necessary for him to know. She doesn't want him to chase her like he does Sasuke, because she's _happy_now.****

**"**Naruto, he didn't. He loves me too," she continues, voice soft, and mentally adds, _I hope._** "**I won't ever leave him behind again. I can't go with you."****

Naruto lunges forward, and she lets her foot slip deliberately. His voice follows her over the cliff, screaming her name.****

xXx****

Hinata isn't at all surprised to find herself at home when she wakes. Not the home she grew up in, but the home she's made for herself in the last year or so. Tobi is leaning over her, poking at her arm. He notes her state of consciousness and giggles. "You're awake, Hinata-chan!" He prods her arm again and she winces. "Does that hurt? That was very reckless of you, you know!"****

**"**I wouldn't have died," she tells him bemusedly, and tries to sit up. But she aches all over and can't manage it at all, so she relaxes again. "Where's Hidan?"****

**"**Oh..." Tobi gives her a helpless shrug. "We haven't heard from him or Kakuzu-san yet."****

She isn't worried, not really. She knows that absolutely nothing in the world could ever defeat Hidan, or Kakuzu. The both of them are positively invincible. "Okay. You'll tell me when they get back?" she asks sleepily.****

Tobi nods his head quickly. "Yes, of course, Hinata-chan!" he chirps. "We will wake you right away!"****

It occurs to her, as she's drifting off, that it is a little odd for Tobi to be here with her. But it's not so odd as to keep her awake, and soon enough unconsciousness claims her like clinging fog.****

She doesn't know another thing.****

xXx****

Her body heals quickly, the painful moments of consciousness few and far between because unlike her lovely Hidan, she's not a masochist and doesn't know how to stand it. But those moments tend to stick with her, even while she sleeps. They bring about horrific nightmares.****

Sometimes, Itachi-san is there when she wakes, glaring almost venomously at Tobi, who has kept vigil at her side for some reason she can't even fathom. There's something odd between the two of them, but she can never understand what, and she likes Tobi a bit better than she likes Itachi-san anyway.****

The dreams after those times are full of walking corpses and ravens pecking out her eyes. She screams so much while she dreams of this that the others are forced to tie her down until she wakes again. Eventually, someone makes the connection and Itachi is barred from her room.****

She's a bit grateful for it, even if she feels shame for the fear.****

The news of Hidan's defeat comes while she's awake, but no one else seems to notice it. Konan is in the room, whispering with Tobi about it. Tobi is irritated about the news and blames Kakuzu, who has also apparently perished.****

Hinata dreams of bridges made from snakeskin, dissolving as she falls through them. She dreams of Jashin-sama, pale fingers caressing her face while he tells her that she has to find her beloved and save him. This is a dream she can't awaken from, and she doesn't want to. Jashin-sama is so wonderful, his form so intangible, almost as if it isn't there...****

Her eyes open and she's alone. Hinata gets up and slips from the house, ignoring the pain. She has to ignore the pain. She has to find Hidan.****

xXx****

She follows an invisible trail. Her body aches but she doesn't stop, doesn't rest. Jashin-sama is telling her where to go, where he is, and when she comes to a stop in Hi no Kuni, the trail fades. She drops to her knees, pulling out a kunai.****

And she hesitates. Her body hurts so badly. It _hurts_... she's pretty sure that though she's healed a lot, she hasn't completely recovered from the fall off the cliff. But... _Hidan_...****

She digs. Life is nothing but pain, and sweat and effort. It's dirt beneath her fingernails, tainted black from her connection to the Earth. The sun has no presence here, no place. It's always darkness, always pain, always longing for more, for Hidan. Longing. She's longing for him so hard that nothing else can come between them.****

Perhaps she passes out once, but as soon as she's awake again, she's digging. Tears have long since dried up, because they have no place in this either.****

She works until she can't move any more. No, she could still move. She could still work, but in the darkness, her limbs won't obey her.****

**"**Hinata."**  
****  
**A voice, and it's so familiar. Where has she heard it before, where?****

She stares down at the dirt below her knees, her head clearing a little. She realizes she's running a fever, and she's been suffering some sort of delirium. But her fingers are closed around a hand, a very familiar hand that clutches back at hers.****

The voice calls out again. "I can't let you continue. I have to arrest you."****

But she smiles, because she has Hidan's hand. She'll figure a way out of this. She has to, because this is Hidan's hand and he's _alive_.****

**"**Grab her and lock her with the chakra cuffs," the voice says to someone else.****

Hidan's hand tightens on hers, and she squeezes back as best she can, fighting suddenly against the kagemane. A part of her realizes she must be on the Nara lands, and that's why he's here.****

It's Shikamaru that has her, she knows. _I have to escape..._****

Someone lands beside her, grabs her arms and jerks them behind her back. She hears Shikamaru hiss above them. "Oy, watch it, tosan," he complains.****

Hinata's forced to wait, but now she knows where Hidan is.****

xXx****

When Hinata wakes, she's in a cell, and standing at the bars is Neji. His eyes are watching her, and his face is without expression. Pale arms are lax against his side, hanging uselessly. "Hinata-sama," he says, deep voice echoing in the empty room.****

She grimaces as she moves to sit up. "Neji..." Her cloak is gone, as are her weapons, and her slashed hitai-ate. She's left in only the mesh undershirt, her underwear and the pair of ninja-issue slacks she'd been wearing before. All her hidden weapons are missing, and there are a pair of chakra cuffs on her wrists, limiting her chakra to the very least necessary to live. That is to say, she feels like a newborn kitten.****

Her injuries have been healed, though, which is a plus. The chakra she can still feel a little bit is familiar. It's Sakura's.****

**"**Why?"****

The single, broken word is all it takes to snap her attention back onto her cousin. He's staring at her still, looking a bit lost and a bit betrayed and a bit as if someone had dragged the rug out from beneath his feet. He doesn't understand either, and it drives her a little crazy.****

Why can't they see it? Why can't they understand that she does it out of love, just like she's done every other thing, made every other choice her entire life? She became a ninja because she loved her father and her cousin. She became stronger because she loved Naruto. She became a traitor because she loves Hidan. And because he loves her back.****

**"**You will never understand," she says softly, lowering her eyes. "I can't make you understand." Because he didn't want to understand.****

Her chest hurts at the thought, but she will not let her feelings control her.****

**"**Fine," he seethes, lashing out because that's all he knows what to do. "Stay here and rot!" And then he's gone, just like the rest of them.****

xXx****

Nobody comes for her, from Akatsuki, but she hadn't expected anyone to do so anyway. Maybe Hidan would have, but he's buried twenty feet under, being smothered constantly. She stares in horror at the floor when she thinks of this, and she sits and waits.****

Days pass. Weeks. Months. Naruto comes sometimes, and Neji lurks around the edges occasionally. Once she even sees Shino, standing in the shadows, staring at her without emotion.****

And still she waits patiently, eats the food they give her because she won't die anyway, and waits. When Jashin demands blood in her dreams, she has to make due with rats, and fervent prayers in the night when no one is paying attention.****

Then she wakes up in the middle of the night, a hand over her mouth and a familiar scent in her nose. Kiba. "I can't watch this anymore," he whispers, voice desperate and choked with emotion. "Hinata, please. Stop resisting. Just give them what they want!"****

**"**But they haven't asked for anything," she whispers back when he moves his hand.****

He just stares at her, uncomprehending. "Haven't...? Why?" he asks, disbelief covering his familiar face.****

She's a little sad, watching him like this. "Because I won't give it to them," she replies, frowning. "Kiba, please understand... It's not that I don't love the people here anymore... I love Konoha, and I love my friends-"****

**"**Then come back!" he yelps, and then pauses to look around nervously.****

Sighing, she sits up and shakes her head. "I can't. I won't. I don't want to. I love Hidan, Kiba, and he loves me."****

**"**He's a murderer!" he snarls furiously.****

**"**So are you."****

There's no answer for that. He's stunned into silence by the answer, and still can't find an answer when she quietly whispers, "So am I."****

How can he deny that?****

xXx****

**The Syndrome****  
****Part 3: The Huntress******

xXx****

They're running through the forest. Hidan is laughing beside her, and Akatsuki is hot on their heels. Itachi's been dead for two months already, his brother a new member, but the boy has little interest in Hinata or Hidan specifically. No, it's the mission they stole from Akatsuki that he's interested in. And the scroll that the contact hired Akatsuki to get.****

But Hidan is really interested in this scroll. He's told Hinata that it's a scroll placed on Earth by Jashin. Hidden from the other gods, so that they cannot destroy Jashin and take his place of power. He'd been so animated the night before, when he'd outlined to her just how they were going to steal the scroll out from under Akatsuki's nose.****

Hinata wasn't really that surprised when they stumbled upon the redheaded girl - Karin or something like that - and Uchiha Sasuke. She had distracted the two while Hidan snatched the scroll, and then the two of them took off.****

**"**Hi-na-ta!" Hidan sing-songed, grinning widely with excitement. "You're faster! Take the scroll to the rendezvous point!"****

She grabs it from him as he starts to slow. "Alright!" she replies, knowing what he has in mind. He's going to sacrifice Uchiha Sasuke and the girl to Jashin. Some part of her is a little troubled by the thought, but it's easy for her to shrug it off. After all, Sasuke-san had betrayed Konoha long before she'd ever had the notion. Now? There just isn't a single thing they have in common.****

So she moves on, leaving her lover behind to fight against the others without any concern for him.****

xXx****

An hour later, as she lazes about in a familiar swamp, she starts to wonder what's taking him. But she isn't worried. She thinks back to a time when she would have been, and immediately recalls her incarceration in Konoha. Then, she would have worried. Then, she would have cared.****

But it was then that she had forced herself to kill off the last of her innocence, and become the killer that Hidan had already been trying to make her. There had been no other way.****

xXx****

_Finally, Ibiki came for her. He brought her to a room with no windows, and drab, uninteresting cement walls. There was a single wooden door with steel hinges and no handle; it opened only when chakra was applied._****

_There were two chairs, and that was all for furnishings. He took one, she took the other, and she was strapped into it. "Hyuuga Hinata." When she said nothing, he frowned. "You can probably imagine why we are here."_****

_Hinata could only stare at him. This was Konoha's torture expert, the interrogation man that got his hands on the worst of criminals and made them squeal like stuck pigs. This man was a legend, the kind that ninja mommies and daddies used to scare their children into behaving._****

_And she was terrified. He was going to kill her over and over because he didn't need to worry about her dying. He'd do it until she screamed the answers he wanted, but she was pretty sure she had no answers to give him._****

**"**_What can you tell us about the Jashin religion?"_****

_That wasn't the question she'd expected him to ask. She had expected demands about Akatsuki, __their hide-outs, their tactics, their plans. Not about her Jashin, the god that had granted her forever with the man she loves. She just stared at him, unable to come up with a single thing to say. Truthfully, she wouldn't even know where to start._****

_Ibiki continued after the silence settled and threatened to cling. "Does it have a weakness? Can we kill Jashinists in some way? Hinata, if you tell us what we need to know, we're willing to give you a complete pardon, and reinstate you as a ninja of Konoha-"_****

**"**_You want to kill Hidan." The words were out of her mouth before she was even fully aware of thinking them. They were impulsive and reckless, but she didn't take them back. She didn't want to._****

_The man before her did not show any change of expression. He did, however, pause for the briefest of moments, long enough to re-evaluate the situation. Finally, he nodded. "Yes. He is an enemy of Konoha, and if we can find a way to kill him, then it would be to our advantage. Hinata, is there a way?"_****

**"**_No," she told him truthfully, and then went on with, "Jashin-sama has granted him true immortality, as a priest of the order. He is the highest authority on Jashinism on Earth, and the most powerful. Even now, I bet Jashin-sama is pulling him back together piece by piece." Most of it wasn't true, of course. While Hidan __**was**__a priest for Jashin, one of the few capable of inducting people into the religion, the rest of it was pure fiction. Well except of course that Hidan couldn't be killed._****

_This wasn't the answer Ibiki had been looking for, obviously. But he nodded anyway. "What about you? Supposedly, you survived falling from a cliff... We were aware that you'd been partnered with Hidan and the man Kakuzu. We are aware that you are said to be practicing that religion... Will you give it up to come back?"_****

**"**_No." Truth again, and her fingers were clenching at the chair hard enough that she knew her nails would leave marks. "I will not. And I will not tell you anything else." She would have no fear, even in the face of the most terrifying man she'd ever met._****

_He must have seen it in her eyes, because he nodded and got up. Shortly after that, she was escorted back to her cell, and left on her own._****

_Ibiki questioned her again the next week, without gaining another bit of information. They tried two more times before it became obvious that she would not willingly give any weakness._****

_Then the torture started._****

xXx****

Hinata isn't really surprised when the redhead finally finds her. The girl is muddy and cranky and there's a leech on her arm that she's trying to pull off. But the girl is good with sensing chakra, and when the leech comes free, she throws it into Hinata's face.****

The Jashinist woman ducks and dances away. She smiles at the girl, who complains at her about having to follow Hinata into this 'godforsaken jungle of mud and mosquitoes'. She talks too much, and Hinata thinks she's awfully shallow. She bitches about every single damn thing that crosses her mind, and in no time at all, the Jashinist knows all about her infatuation with Sasuke.****

While she works through a plan to get Karin's blood, she's quiet. Very quiet, and it's starting to unnerve the redhead, who's had to abandon her glasses because she couldn't see through the mud on them. (When she complains about it, Hinata offers the thought of contacts, but this just seems to piss Karin off.)****

Her chance comes, while Karin attacks her with kunai and rants about someone named Juuga (Juugo?) and forest animals. Hinata slips in under her guard, and slices her stomach, flipping away. Karin curses, and Hinata pauses on a tree branch to lick the blood. Then she taunts the girl, riling her up with ease, and leads her on a wild goose chase to a relatively dry piece of land.****

Karin calls her gross, until she takes in the Jashinist's face and body. Hinata tosses off the heavy woolen cloak she's been wearing, brown in color. It thuds to the ground behind her, revealing her mesh undershirt and standard issue ninja shorts. And black and white all over her body, a vague outline of her skeleton.****

She creates the circle, smiling at the stunned redhead. Karin doesn't last long at all after that.****

xXx****

_Hinata didn't tell them a single thing. She screamed through the torture, prayed for deliverance, but she kept her mouth shut. Jashin hasn't come to her in her dreams again, and she was afraid that it was because she'd not been able to complete the ritual in a while._****

_It was after one particularly brutal torture session that Ibiki knelt before her again. She was laying on the floor, her blood staining the cement, breaths coming quick and sharp. The part of her that felt any camaraderie to this man, any loyalty, has been stabbed to death over and over. At this point, she wouldn't mind if he died. In fact, she planned on it._****

**"**_Hinata, I hate doing this," he told her, sad and sympathetic, __**pitying**__her like some sort of helpless child._****

_But the cuffs were still off, because they always took the cuffs off right before she 'died'. They learned the first time, when her death throes destroyed the links, that it was best that way. She's almost done drawing the circle in her own blood._****

**"**_Th-then..." She coughed when her own blood in her mouth went down the wrong tube. "Wh-why...?"_****

**"**_Tell me what I want to know, and I'll stop," he said instead of answering, and he held his hand out to her. "Come on, Hinata. Tell me, and I can bring you back home, where you will be safe and warm and fed. You'll be happy again."_****

_She took his hand, let him pull her up as if she was finally giving in. Her feet lost purchase on the floor, and she stumbled into him, but he straightened her, steadied her. Then she bit down hard on his wrist, enough that her blunt teeth broke through the skin and she tasted his blood. He backhanded her away, right onto the circle as she'd counted on. "Fuck," he hissed, staggering back. He looked up at her, and she could see the blood drain from his face._****

_Hinata bared her teeth at him, and dragged herself to her feet. She held up a kunai, stolen off of him when he'd helped her up. He took a step, and she slit her own throat. They both thudded to the ground._****

xXx****

Hinata finally just goes back for Hidan. When she finds him, it's to him cursing as Uchiha Sasuke systematically cuts him to pieces. The female sighs loudly, Byakugan activating as she closes her eyes. Sasuke has noticed her, and he abandons Hidan in favor of the bigger threat she presents.**  
****  
****"**Where is Karin?" he demands.****

She gives an offhanded shrug, chakra clinging to the tree branch, allowing her to hang from it upside down. Her hair is a waterfall beneath her, her cloak slipping off to join the marsh-water below, and she lets it. "Dead," she tells him. "She wasn't much of a challenge. Do you always pick such weak partners?"****

He darts toward her, and she lets the chakra release, landing in a quasi-handstand only to pivot her weight into a two-legged kick aimed for his chest. Predictably, he grabs her ankles and spins her around, but she lets him. He throws her, and she lets him do that too, catching herself effortlessly on a tree branch as she passes above it. She shifts her momentum into an arc, using the branch to redirect her direction, before releasing herself and landing beside Hidan's head.****

**"**Are you okay?" she asks him.****

**"**Do I fuckin' look like I'm okay? Don't ask stupid questions, bitch," he retorts, which really just means that it hurts and he loves it but he's definitely being a baby about it.****

**"**Do you have the scroll?" Sasuke demands of her.****

She reaches into the satchel on her thigh, retrieving the dummy scroll they'd prepared beforehand. "You gonna take it and leave? We were double booked, and I'm not interested in fighting you, Uchiha."****

**"**I'll leave if you give it to me," he agrees.****

So she makes a show of reluctantly tossing it at him, and Hidan makes a show of getting really pissed about it. Uchiha eyes it briefly, nods, and takes off to find his partner.****

xXx****

_For a moment, Hinata could only stare at the man twitching on the floor. He was in a puddle of blood - his own - eyes open and staring, but unseeing. His body slowly went still, and she finally forced herself to blink. Drew in a breath, and with it the stench of death._****

_She could feel Jashin's pleasure with the sacrifice. But she ignored it and looked around. She couldn't have been unconscious for more than a second._****

_No one has come yet. She glanced around, but there's no one rushing to the man's rescue. Didn't they hear him die? But no, she'd seen the thickness of those walls..._****

_She got up, stumbling with pain as the death wound on her throat healed itself. Still silence, but that wouldn't last. She could get more gear later, but right now she just wanted to leave._****

_She opened the door, and somewhere down the hall, an ANBU turned toward the noise. She was already darting forward, and her stolen kunai buried itself in his throat. He gagged quietly, and she gently let him sink to the floor. Pulled out the kunai. Fled._****

_The next two were Genma and Choji. She got Genma first, a wound in his side that may or may not kill him. Then Choji finished gaping at her and lunged, arm growing. She used her quicker speed to duck under it, and moved upward. "I'm sorry, Choji," she whispered, and buried the kunai in the dip between shoulder and neck. He cried out and fell, bucking._**  
****  
**_She left him behind quickly, knowing it was important that she get out of here before the real showy nin started to appear. Down the halls she ran, taking out two more unfamiliar ANBU, getting a shurriken stuck in her wrist. She stole a tanto from some man without a face, and someone else's weapons pouch. They were custom made, diamond-encrusted black steel._****

_Friend and foe had no meaning anymore. There were faces that were familiar, but her heart was locked away in her chest. She forced herself to take them down until she stood in the forest, Shino and Kiba and Kurenai blocking the way._****

**"**_Hinata, what are you doing?" Kiba asked, looking heartbroken, but she just stared at him. A part of her realized that the numbness spreading through her bones might never leave, but perhaps that would be okay in the end. No more hurting._****

_Kurenai saw more of it than her students, and her voice was sad as she spoke. "Hinata-chan... Please stop. Please come back, don't make us..." But Hinata only looked at her, and she sighed. "She won't."_****

_Shino attacked without another word. He darted forward, bugs swarming. Hinata dropped back into a stance, gaze sharpening. There was only one way to save herself from his attack. Only one, and she started to spin._****

xXx****

The scroll contains a technique. A way to command the corpses of their victims in order to kill more. Hidan turns his nose up at it, so Hinata takes it and studies it. She realizes it is just a further control of what they already use. Their victims do not disconnect from them after death. They disconnect after the symbol is no longer in play. Meaning, as long as the Jashinist remains on the symbol, they can control the corpse of the dead.****

**"**I'll have to find someone to test this on," she comments later that night.****

Beside her, finishing the stitches on his left arm, Hidan just grunts in derision. His mouth is full of a coarse-textured roll of bandages, but he manages a quiet, "Not me," anyway.****

She blinks down at him, pale eyes flickering over the jumble of stitches all over his body. "No," she agrees bemusedly. "I wouldn't."****

Eyes like blood lift briefly to meet hers, then lower to his tending once more. "No, you wouldn't," he confirms. Because no matter how much she's changed since the day she woke up with Deidara in her face, she will still never, ever harm a comrade. Or him.****

Hinata sighs and kneels in front of him. Normally, he'd bitch and moan about her helping him, but when she takes the thread and needle away, he says nothing. He watches her with not a word while gentle fingers carefully pull the skin together, locking it in place so that he will heal when all is said and done.****

**"**Hinata." His voice is a breath, and she looks up, knotting the last stitch. He reaches out and drags her into a steamy kiss that steals her breath and makes her his all at once. Rough, calloused hands drag her into his lap, avoiding injury and pinning her in place. His mouth moves from hers, teeth scraping the tender column of her throat when he seals it there.****

She can feel his intent firmly, the desire to claim, to brand, to advertise that she is his and no one else's. The woman arcs back, head thrown back, jaw fallen open. Helpless moans begin when he slides his hand beneath her shirt, fingers uncaring for gentle, wanting just the opposite.****

She's his, she belongs to him in every way; body, soul, heart, mind. Perhaps it should scare her, perhaps she should run from it, but she won't. He's made her, created her from almost nothing until she is the woman that purrs at a tiny flash of pain; Hinata is his huntress, bred from the finest stock to the worst outcome.****

And she won't have it any other way.****

xXx****

_Hinata ran from them, distracted them from pursuit with her presumed death. She made it to Hidan and dug him up, and she ran. When they discovered this, she and Hidan were already halfway to Kumo._****

_She finally had to stop when she couldn't go on without crying anymore. She found a cave, she sobbed as she helped him put himself together, and then she retreated into the furthest corner of the cave. He didn't come to console her, and she hadn't expected him to._****

_She couldn't feel anything but remorse so intense she wanted to throw up. She hated that she'd fought them, that Choji and Genma may have died at her hand. That Ibiki __**did**__die. It was a bitter, horrid taste in her mouth, and she was finally forced to empty her stomach._****

_Part of her was dying then, dying a slow and horrible death, and the best she could do was cling to what she __**had**__. That was Hidan, and Jashin, and the blood on her hands. Her ability as a ninja and a Hyuuga to kill. Her obligation as a Jashinist to spill blood over the ground._****

_The sobs gradually petered out, sorrow giving in to emptiness. When she pulled herself to her feet, she felt nothing. It mattered just as much as it mattered for her to lay on the ground still, and that was to say it mattered not at all._****

_Hidan opened his eyes as she knelt in front of him. He cracked a grin at her. "Done bein' a baby?"_****

_She smiled back. "For now."_****

xXx****

When Hinata's eyes open some time later, she just lays in his arms and thinks about all the things she's given up. Mortality, friends, family, the chance at having children. Perhaps the only thing she still mourns is the last, because Jashin will not permit breeding and so the moment they lost their ability to die, they lost the ability to conceive.****

Perhaps it's for the best, she tells herself. If Jashinists could breed, well... There would probably be little Hidans peppered all over the brothels.****

The thought makes her giggle, stirring her lover. He drags her against his chest, but doesn't bother wasting the effort to turn her to face him. His nose nuzzles the back of her neck, prompting her eyes to close in order to better enjoy the sensation.****

**"**See?" he murmurs after a long moment.****

She shrugs awkwardly, smiling. "My eyes are closed."**  
****  
**He actually chokes at that, and his teeth sink lightly into the muscles of her shoulder. "Dummy." He kisses the spot and goes back to cuddling. "I meant... You make a good Jashinist. I told you so, didn't I?"****

Hinata doesn't tell him why she became a Jashinist in the first place, or why she went through with it all in the end. She's never told him, and she never will. She doesn't even know if he loves her back, or knows for what reasons she agrees with his sudden assessment.****

She twists around, pearl meeting ruby, and smiles at him. "You're such an egotistical bastard," she replies sweetly. "I bet you think it's all about you."****

**"**Oh it is, sexy, it is," he retorts cheekily.****

**"**Blasphemer."****

The look on his face is worth it.****

_**~Owari**_

**xXx**

**Another confession... I hope this inspires more fans of this pairing. I really do adore it, and so does my beta and bestest friend in the world, Azhwi. If, on an off chance, you are interested in reading more HidaxHina, please feel free to visit Azhwi's FFN page! We are working on an ItaSak called Sand Trails, but it also has HidaxHina in it. It's actually what inspired our love of the pairing! Thank you for taking the time to read, and please review!**


	3. The Mystery of the Floating Body

**3) The Mystery of the Floating Body  
Characters: Kakuzu, Tobi, Gai, Kakashi, Itachi, Shisui, Sasori, Kankuro, Orochimaru, mentions of others  
Description: There's a body in the swimming pool, and it all goes downhill from there.  
Dedication: Azhwi, for the amusing prompts  
Warning: Complete and utter crack, Orochimaru silliness, fun with Kakashi, references to nudity, general stupidity, AU  
Prompt: 'mystery murder at a swimming pool' & 'lollipops'  
Rating: T (for references to bodies and nudity)  
Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.**

We start our story on the fifth of June, with the Summer sun hanging high in the sky, creating its customary heat like the gods were playing lava toss. Girls and boys alike were doing absolutely _anything_ they could to escape the blistering weather, or at least forget about it briefly enough that they didn't notice the developing sunburns.

This included, but was not limited to; stripping naked and streaking through the least populated streets of Konoha (Uzumaki Naruto on one side of town and Jashin Hidan on the other), doing so through more populated streets (Fukumen Tobi), making prompt use of lawn sprinklers (Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura, on two different sides of the street, both trying to claim the attention of the neighborhood in their constant rivalry)... and, of course, swimming.

Now, normally, this would not be a subject of interest for much longer than it takes to see that the majority of those at the local pool were either homicidal or male. However... there was a catch.

Maito Gai - the man in charge of caring for the school pool during the summer months - had discovered a body upon entering the premises that morning. Some poor, nameless student had been drowned under the protection tarp, and there were suspects of course.

A few people had been lingering, supposedly waiting for the place to open, and the body wasn't long dead. Those people were Chuushin Kakuzu, Nara Shikamaru, Akasuna Sasori, Sabaku Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, Hyuuga Hinata and Neji, and finally-

"Hinata did it," Kakashi claimed as soon as the police had been called.

Gai blinked while Neji shot the hentai a scathing glare, straightening in clear preparation to rip him a new one. Shikamaru quickly interjected before it could get ugly. "That's impossible, she was stuck at her house until _after_ Gai-sensei got here, Hatake-san. I know, because I live next door."

Neji nodded firmly. "Yes, what he said."

"Well, it'd be too obvious for Sasori or Kakuzu to have done it!" the belligerent, unemployed pervert insisted. (In the background, both boys rolled their eyes; this was clearly a waste of time.) "So clearly it's not possible!"

"Do you _live_ in those dumb books, or is your stupidity natural?" Kankuro asked, eyes rolling.

"It wasn't Hidan, either, since he was streaking down the block when we started this way..." Temari said thoughtfully, appearing not to notice the argument going on between the men-folk.

Hinata, the missing Jashinist's girlfriend, immediately rose to his defense. "H-he wouldn't do it!" Then she paused, turning bright red. "St-strea-streaking?" she squeaked, and promptly fainted.

They all fell silent, eying the prone female consideringly, and Kakashi finally nodded. "It wasn't her," he decided. Kankuro fell over in exasperation.

"That leaves the usual suspects, I suppose," Sasori spoke up thoughtfully. When all eyes fell on him, he shrugged. "Me or Gaara, I mean."

Temari immediately bristled. "What! My adorable little brother didn't do it!" she cried, arms flailing. It seemed to escape her that Sasori had included himself.

Both redheads gave her flat looks, and Kakuzu suddenly noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Something green. He slinked off while they were distracted, tiptoeing over to the dollar bill on the ground just by the corner of the building. He reached for it, and it jerked away. He missed the stifled snickering and followed.

Meanwhile...

"Yo, guys, what's up!" Uchiha Shisui chirped as he and another officer - Uchiha Itachi - wandered over. "We hear you guys gotta dead body-"

"It wasn't Hinata," Kakashi claimed firmly as Neji tried to slap the girl awake.

Shisui blinked. "Uh..." Was that a trick question?

Heaving a sigh, Itachi pulled out his notebook, wishing he were with _his_ girlfriend instead of looking after a possible murder. "I'd like the names of everyone that was present when you arrived, Gai-san," he said calmly.

While Gai started to list them off, they all heard a loud, painful scream. Kakashi looked around, realized Kakuzu was gone, and gasped. "They've gotten Kakuzu-san too!" he cried in horror.

Sasori really really doubted that, but he, the officers and Kakashi left with Gai to go investigate.

Gaara frowned and crossed his arms, turning as he heard footsteps behind him. He blinked. Tobi strolled up like he had every right to be there, sucking on a lollipop idly and smiling in content. "Hey, guys, sup?" he asked cheerfully around the sweet.

Temari turned and gaped. Kankuro fell over again. Hinata - who had finally awoken - fainted, and Neji glowered at the nude boy. "Mou, where's Orochimaru-san, we were s'posed to meet here," the black-haired youth added innocently.

Around the side of the shower-house, Shisui and Itachi were trying to calm an irate Kakuzu, who was dangling a terrified Inuzuka Kiba over the pool with a permanent sneer etched onto his face. "Put the dog-fetish-boy down slowly, Kakuzu," Shisui said calmingly. "Nice and easy, just set him down on the ground, not in the water..."

"I refuse," was the flat reply, as Kakuzu squeezed harder.

Heaving a sigh, Itachi retrieved his wallet and held out a fifty. "Ka-ku-zu... c'mere, boy, look what I've got."

Green eyes locked on the money, and Kakuzu took a step. Kiba's dangling legs helplessly scraped along the ground as the money-monger walked after the treat, entranced. Finally, the younger boy was forgotten, and dropped, Kakuzu lunged for the money (tackling Itachi in the process)... and Kakashi sidestepped so as not to get dog-fetish cooties on himself. Gai quickly hurried forward to help the poor injured boy.

Sasori peered around, now in full view of the crime scene, and eyed the dead body under the tarp. "Is that..." He leaned forward, squinting. "Orochimaru?"

"Oh my God, really!?" Kakashi yelped, hurrying forward to peek. "Gai! Why haven't you called pest control! That's clearly just extra skin."

Distracted from comforting the mortified Inuzuka, Gai looked over. "It's a body," he protested.

The silver-haired man scoffed and grabbed a leaf scooper, using it to shift the tarp. "Nope. See? Orochimaru molted, that's all. Problem solved!" He beamed, satisfied that the mystery was solved, and turned.

An arm came up out of the water, pale fingers wrapping around his ankle. Kakashi screamed like a girl, and started whacking at the top of a black-haired head with the leaf scooper. "Lemme goooooo! Evil! Cretin! Snake-scum! Ewwwww!"

Sasori sighed heavily and wandered off, while Itachi finally threw off Kakuzu and quickly got to his feet. Shisui sighed. "Goddamnit, Orochimaru," he said as the snake-man used Kakashi as a means to climb out of the pool. Despite the one-eyed man's numerous protests. "That's the third time this month! Would you give someone a warning first?"

The pale man just grinned, flopping out on the cement as Kakuzu, Gai and Kiba left too. "Sorry," he replied unrepentantly. "In my defense, I told Tobi."

The Uchihas blinked as one and turned... just in time for the naked youth in question to round the corner. He gave a loud suck on his lollipop. "Tobi's here, Orochimaru-san!" he chirped happily. "Ain't I such a good boy?"

xXx

**See? Told you this one would be shorter... Many thanks to Azhwi for the prompts. Please comment, and I hope you enjoyed.**


	4. Questioning Our Sexuality

**4) Questioning Our Sexuality  
Characters: ShikaGaa, Ino, mentions of others  
Description: Talk about coming out of the closet...  
Dedication: Me! Cuz I haven't done anything for just me in forever...  
Warning: Boyxboy, fluff, OOC  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.  
Word Count: 768**

They found themselves in the closet. Well, a closet. It wasn't a specific closet, or a closet belonging to any particular important person. Hell, it wasn't even the only closet in the house, or the room. It was just... a mostly empty closet. There were assorted shoes at their feet, and a couple coats hanging around their heads.

And somehow, for some reason that Nara Shikamaru was not privy to, they were inside it. The closet. Hiding from Ino, and a couple other women that were mostly from Konoha. The redhead beside him looked at about as much of a loss as Shikamaru felt.

"Why are we hiding?" the shadow-user asked finally, but had sense enough to whisper it in the Kazekage's ear. He graciously pretended not to notice the other's reactionary shiver.

Clearing his throat, the redhead turned and leaned up slightly, using Shikamaru's shoulder to keep steady. It was odd to suddenly notice that he was _taller_ than Suna's Kage, but Gaara didn't seem to find it a problem, so he neglected to mention it and instead turned his head politely. "They were following me." And he pulled back.

A sage nod is the only answer at first. Then Shikamaru frowned and looked at the Kazekage, brows furrowing. "Let me rephrase," he said, back to whispering in Gaara's ear. "Why am _I_ hiding with you?"

Silence fell between them for a moment, mostly because they _might_ have heard a noise outside, but when it didn't repeat itself, they relaxed. Gaara turned to face Shikamaru, not bothering with his ear this time. "I don't know. You were there. I don't find you threatening." Pause. "I panicked and just did whatever."

"Oh." That brow-furrow again. "Wait, I'm not threatening?"

"Were you trying to be?" Gaara asked, looking completely confused.

Point. But still. "Well, no... but I could have been."

"But you weren't." By this point, Gaara was probably beginning to think Shikamaru was either messing with him... or had lost his marbles somewhere.

"Yes, but..."

The door jerked open, and again Gaara panicked. Shikamaru found himself suddenly kissing the Kazekage. To their left, several women - Ino included - gaped. And then the blonde dissolved into cackles, one hand swinging the door shut.

Once they were in the semi-darkness again, Shikamaru regained his ability to think and jerked back. "What was _that_!?" he demanded, wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry!" Gaara said immediately. "Well, no, I'm not. But I didn't mean to kiss you! Initially."

"Initially? Are you telling me that _after_ you kissed me, you meant to do it?" the Nara growled, utterly baffled.

A brief pause followed as Gaara slowly shook his head (almost like he was looking for a positive reaction to his answer), then quickly nodded. "Yes." Pause. Blink. "No. I don't know."

Exhaling loudly, Shikamaru took a pointed step back. Gaara gave him a look that said he was honestly lost as to how to answer that question. "You don't know," the shadow-user murmured, frowning. "You kissed me, on accident?"

"Probably."

"Probably." Inhale. This was so surreal. "Alright. And then... the fangirls - that's what they were, don't argue - saw you kissing me. Ino thought it was-" He stopped to make a choked, mournful noise. _Oh gods, I'll never hear the end of it!_ Then he cleared his throat. "Funny. Closed the door. You kept kissing me."

A firm jerk of a nod that looked more like a minute convulsion. "Yes. That's what happened," the redhead agreed.

But the Nara is still very confused. "Why did you keep kissing me? Because... it was nice? Because you wanted to? Or because I was there and you were already doing it anyway?" he asked, crossing his arms. Dark brows remained furrowed.

Gaara took a few minutes to think about that, leaning back on his heels and sucking on his lip in a manner that drew Shikamaru's gaze. Green eyes finally lifted and met grey. "It was nice," he said frankly, wistfully. "It was nice enough that I wanted to continue kissing you."

Shikamaru merely stared at him for a long time, until the Kazekage started to scowl and crossed his arms, looking very defensive. "Oh," the taller male eventually managed. "Well." He stared again. "Okay. Want to try again? Not in a closet, though."

The redhead looked relieved. "Sure," he said casually, and pushed open the door. None of the fangirls were hanging around anymore, and they were able to make their way out without a problem.

Shikamaru thought that Choji would probably be very pleased, and Nara Yoshino was going to tackle her son as soon as he got home.

xXx

**I had far too much fun writing this. This, btw, people, is my yaoi OTP. Love these guys so hard. Review!**


	5. In the Hours

**5) In the Hours  
Fandom: Naruto  
Characters: ItaSak, mentions of others  
Description: When she finds him, impulse takes over. Then it's just in the moment, as she listens to his story.  
Dedication: Me! Cuz I haven't done anything for just me in forever... Okay, and partially for Azhwi, just cuz she loves the pairing too.  
Warning: Goes AU about part-way through the Uchiha fight, but ends the same...  
Prompt: None  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.  
Word Count: 1290**

Soundless footsteps take her closer to where he lays, blood like an aura around him on the ground. She can tell he's not breathing; can tell he's either dead or about to be. Sasuke is gone. Either taken by someone else or he left himself. Sakura has honestly started to just _not care_.

Instead, she kneels beside her erstwhile teammate's brother, staring down at his face. Someone's closed his eyes, and she wonders who. Then she shakes her head and wonders what he'd thought, in the end. What he'd wanted for himself. Had he wanted to live? Had he wanted something else?

Gently, she reaches out, rain-chilled fingers brushing whisps of hair from his face. She swallows; he's already so _cold_. Those fingers slide down his cheek, press against his pulse. She goes very, very still. Waits. A moment passes, and the sluggish, fading thump against her fingertips repeats.

Haruno Sakura, medic first, shinobi second, doesn't hesitate. She scoops him up, grip enhanced by chakra, and hurries away before the others catch up.

xXx

It takes hours, and hours, and hours, but she manages to strengthen his heart. She _heals _it, forcing what remains of his illness to dry up. Then she puts everything she has into rebuilding the muscle, regenerating the lost blood. Works on him until she's nearly breathless and can't spend another bit of energy, quite literally.

When she opens her eyes finally, he's looking back up at her. She falls, exhausted beyond description, but he doesn't catch her.

xXx

Sakura wakes again some time later, but the man she'd worked on hasn't moved. She realizes he must not have been very awake at all when she passed out. She looks around at the glade they rest in, relieved that no one snuck up on them.

Rolling over onto her stomach, she pushes herself up on all fours and stagger-crawls to the sleeping Uchiha. Checking his pulse reveals that he still lives, and she breathes an incredulous sigh of relief. At least, now that he _is _alive, he's fighting for it.

She sits, lifting a hand and staring at it. What has she done? Her entire body is shaking, and she has barely any chakra left at all to defend herself. Not to mention, she's done this on behalf of a murderer, a man that's driven the boy she loves to the brink of madness and beyond. And all because she hates to see death when she can prevent it.

She draws her knees up to her chest, and she folds her arms on them, burying her face there. Then she cries, harder than she's ever cried. She weeps from frustration, hopelessness, helplessness. She sobs because she's lost, and she doesn't know what to do. She's helped a criminal on impulse, and now self-pity demands she feel miserable about it.

But dear gods, what is she going to do?

The soft sound of a hand slapping against springy, damp grass doesn't draw her head up, but she goes silent. Half of her hopes he'll just kill her, and half of her is hoping he won't notice she's there, if she's quiet enough.

Laughter makes every muscle in her body stiffen. The sound is so soft, so sad, so self-deprecating that she eventually looks up just because she can't believe it's from him. But there he is, arms wrapped around himself, back leaned up against a stump as he tries not to fall over. And he's laughing. Sakura can only stare at him.

Itachi either doesn't notice her gaze, or doesn't care, because five minutes pass before he even _tries _to get himself under control. And even then, when dark eyes focus on her, he just gives her the laziest smile she's ever seen, and doesn't say a word.

She can't understand it. What is there to laugh about? Why is he looking at her like that, like she's something amusing that he hadn't expected to see.

"You're Sakura."

Sakura flinches, because she hadn't really expected such a velvet voice after that irritating bout of scratchy laughter. She nods slowly. "You're Itachi," she mumbles, wondering where he's going with this.

"Aa." He sits up, grimaces as he rubs his chest. His heart. "You healed me. Why?"

"I..." She stops, because she sure as hell isn't about to tell him the real reason. He looks far too knowing anyway. "I want answers," she eventually says. "There are things I don't understand, that no one understands, and I want you to tell me." She climbs to her feet, but he doesn't move from where he sits, and she crosses her arms. Pretends she has more chakra than she does when she continues with, "And don't think about escaping. I can kill you in a moment. It'd be easy; I have more chakra than you, and you aren't completely healed. So you'd better answer me."

Uchiha Itachi regards her with interest. She knows he knows she's lying, and she knows he would likely have pointed this out, were their situation any different. But for now, he doesn't, and merely nods magnanimously. "Then ask, Haruno Sakura of Konoha."

She glares at him suspiciously, and proceeds to pry his story from him one detail at a time. Soon enough, the picture is clear, and though she feels like she has so many things to ask, she can't come up with any more questions for him.

So they lapse into silence, and the kunoichi feels a bit like crying again. This time, for him, and for Sasuke, and for all the dead. For their mother, whom Itachi speaks of with so much regret. For their father, who was once the only person Itachi strove to please.

Sakura doesn't cry, though, because she doesn't wish to disrespect what he's told her. A part of her remains skeptical, of course, but there's no way he's lying. She knows _Danzo_, after all. She knows what the man is like. She knows he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. Sakura _knows_that man would even go so far as to force a little boy to kill every single person he cares about, just because Danzo is too terrified of doing it himself. Not even the fact that Itachi was the best, then, excuses it.

Suddenly, Sakura is so _pissed off_. She doesn't know what to do with it, but she gets up and paces, fists clenched at her sides. She doesn't care if he's watching her, she just can't stop being so _mad_. There's a burning sensation right where her heart is, and her jaw is throbbing from clenching so hard for so long. She feels breathless again, furious, near tears with ire.

And _Gods_, she just wants to beat the shit out of Danzo! If only that man had listened to the Hokage! If only that man hadn't gone against the Hokage's wishes, then they wouldn't have as many problems these days!

Or they'd have more.

The thought abruptly switches off the anger, making her feel tired, and sad, and drained utterly. She can't make up her mind whether she should leave, or wait out his recovery. In the end, she sits back where she'd started, frowning at him for a very long time.

Itachi has been watching her as she thought, she knows, and he watches her still. He just waits to see if she'll say anything, or do anything, or just sit there staring at him again.

"I'm sorry."

The words are from her, soft and sad, like his laughter. She understands, and his shoulders slump as if a weight has been taken from them. He says not a word, but she knows he's accepted her sympathy, and that's all she can do.

xXx

**Was randomly in an angsty mood. Anyway, please review, and enjoy!**


	6. Fallen

**6) Fallen  
Fandom: Naruto  
Characters: ItaSak, mentions of others  
Description: Some things are best left alone, while others fade from the light. Luckily, for Uchiha Itachi, the light wasn't a problem he regularly worried about.  
Dedication: Azhwi (as usual)  
Warning: AU  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.  
Word Count: 978  
A/N: This is the Halloween update! Enjoy!**

There was absolutely no reason under the moon that Itachi should have been in that alley, if he were to be perfectly honest with himself. None whatsoever. In fact, a man as old as he, as _mature_ as he, should not have been sulking in the first place.

It was hardly _his_ fault that his petty little brother had picked a fight, after all. And anyway, even if it had been his fault (and to be clear on this point, it probably was, since that was the order of things), he should know better than to take Sasuke's words with more than a grain of salt. The younger Uchiha had always been the brashest member of the family, and _always_ took risks that were unnecessary.

Itachi's ire on the matter, while understandable, shouldn't have been so acute. But _dammit_, he couldn't help it! Sasuke should have been more careful! Instead, he acted without thought and without caution, and as a result, two of their own had been brutally murdered by hunters. And Sasuke? Sasuke blamed Itachi, and claimed that only such a hateful being was capable of bringing upon their heads that kind of calamity.

Madara didn't care, of course. The only times that bastard cared about anything was whenever _Itachi_ made a ruckus. So of course, as was inevitable, Itachi was forced to take the blame. Quietly.

So off he'd gone, in a full-blown brooding fit, to the farthest reaches of the vampire city. And why not? It was his home, he could sulk if he wanted to!

At any rate, it was because of his childish behavior that he saw the star fall. Locally. It was so small that at first he believed it to be far away. But then the cloud of dust rose from the impact, and Itachi realized things were not as they seemed.

As luck would have it, he was the first to arrive, and the 'star' had fallen in the east quadrant, where no one of any importance lived. Aside from thieves and beggars, the place was mostly deserted.

But then, so was the crater when he found it. Not even a bit of rock remained to explain the incident away. Suspicious, Itachi searched the area, hoping someone had come and simply taken it.

However, instead of a rock-thief, Itachi found a girl. She wore tattered, singed crimson garments, with nothing to protect her feet from the ground as she huddled in the shadow of a dumpster. At first sight, he would have dismissed her as a scared, lost human.

But the smell... the very air was thick with the scent of spilled blood, calling Itachi towards her like a Siren's song. Dark eyes bled crimson as he approached the silent silhouette. She didn't move, head tilted back to rest against the metal behind her back. Her long, pale throat was bared to his gaze, not even hidden behind hair, as her pink tresses weren't long enough to do so.

Her eyes were closed, he saw as he drew to a stop before her, and those soft lips were parted ever-so-slightly. He took a step, eyes trailing to the white bits of something over her shoulders. And he gaped, for he realized that _this_ was where the blood came from, pouring from what appeared to be the torn remnants of _wings_.

Itachi's fate was sealed in that moment, and without wasting another second for thought, he scooped the unconscious female up and whisked her away.

xXx

When she woke, her eyes were unfocused, heart aching. At first, she was confused. Why would she hurt so much?

But memory was quick in returning, and Sakura pushed herself up onto her hands and knees unsteadily. She had lain on a bed of some sort, on her stomach, for who knew how long. Her wings... the stubs had been stitched and bandaged, but she knew that would do little for her.

A soft sob escaped her throat, so very human, so very _pained_. How could she have let this happen? "Why?" she whispered, _why_? "Father... Father, _please_... Do... do not abandon me."

There was no answer, no glimmer of hope, and her weak _human_ limbs collapsed beneath her. Her prayers were unanswered. She was forsaken. Fallen.

Suddenly, she was angry. _Furious_. Fire burned through her veins, forcing her up on her feet beside the bed. She over-turned it. Next was an ornate wooden wardrobe, sent crashing through a wall, and then a dresser was flipped onto its front.

She reached for the furnace, hot and bright in the corner, but was restrained. "_Are you mad? You'll burn down the manor!_" a voice hissed in her ear, tongue human but not unknown to her.

"Release me, mortal!" she snarled, trying to wrench away. On a human, it may have worked, but horror and realization dawned as one. She had not been discovered by a human, but by something else. Something stronger, sicker, crueller.

"_L-let me go_," she whispered, stilling in his forced embrace.

He didn't answer her, instead pulling her over to stand by the only surface untouched - a chair in the corner. Warily, he relinquished his grip, and then pushed her into it. Dark eyes stared at her, narrowed with irritation. "_Look what you've done,_" he murmured. "_Now I have to clean it._"

She regarded him in silence, knowing that should he choose to harm her, there was very little she could do about it. Understanding, she had. Strength, well, moreso than any human at least. However, her powers such as they were had depleted the moment her superior had ripped off her wings.

The demon before her sighed. "_What are you? An angel?_"

"_...yes_."

He sighed again, nodded, and began cleaning up the mess _she_ had made. She wasn't sure how to react, so she just kept sitting and watched him silently.

xXx

**Aaannddd... that's it. I haven't touched it since the first day I wrote it. So, if I'm inspired further for the story line, I'll just add a new chapter. Hope you like it as is.**


	7. Nightmares

**7) Nightmares  
Fandom: Naruto  
Characters: Itachi, Sakura, Kisame, mentions of others  
Description: Itachi doesn't let himself hope.  
Dedication: To radfel on deviantart for her wonderful piece **_**Counting.**_**  
Warning: Angst, spoilers  
Rating: M (for content? I'm just being careful mostly)  
Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.  
Word Count: 533**

xXx

_all will be redeemed. in the end_

I hope. (_Breathing, gasping, __**crying**__ oh god someone save me-_)

Where are you? So alone... I'm so alone...

So...

"_ANIKIIIIIIII!_"

xXx

He sits up in bed, gasping again. His breath is loud in the stifling silence. He has a kunai in his hand, and his partner doesn't move from the spot he crouches, knowing if he does Itachi will attack.

Itachi recovers quickly, the boy stiffens in place, staring through the darkness to the silhouette that is Kisame. He says nothing, red eyes glowing. Kisame doesn't comment. Itachi goes back to sleep.

xXx

"_Aniki- aniki- WHY?!_"

Don't look at me with those eyes. Don't look at me like that. Sasuke... (_Save me, save me, Sasuke... oh god, please, make it end- PLEASE!_)

_don't worry. the end will come soon. it will come_

I'm dying.

xXx

His reactions have gotten better. This time, he doesn't wake up gasping. Kisame watches his eyes snap open, glowing red in the muted gloom. Practice makes perfect, and Itachi doesn't look surprised to find Kisame awake.

"Go back to sleep."

Those eyes watch him for a moment longer, before Itachi obeys.

xXx

The end has come. I'm slipping away.

"_There won't be a next time. Sasuke._"

His wide eyes follow me into the black, the void of death. (_I don't want to die! Someone save me, someone SAVE ME!_)

I don't want to die.

xXx

_i don't want to die_

xXx

Please. Someone. Anyone.

xXx

Save me.

xXx

There is light when his eyes open again. There's light, and a woman swaying as she kneels before him. She crumbles to the ground, face expressionless, tears falling down her cheeks.

His eyes close again.

xXx

The next time he wakes, she's crying her heart out. The sound is pathetic, and heartbroken, and scared. Somehow, he relates. He feels a bit like crying himself, except he's never cried, not since that first day when his family was dead and...

He reaches out, hand falling too hard against the grass, and pushes himself up. The woman has fallen silent, frozen in place as she waits for him to do or say something. He opens his mouth, but then closes it again and just watches her.

It's all irrational. He recognizes this girl, this iryonin kunoichi that is curled in a ball mere feet away, and it's all irrational that he should even be here, in this place.

Nightmares and half-hopes that never fully bloomed in his chest are whispering in the back of his mind. (_Help me, save me, somebody._) He can't help it; he starts to laugh, arms curling around his middle.

The irony is horrible, and wonderful, and dazzling. His little brother's teammate. (_The little brother whom for so long, I have wished to kill me. My little brother who hates me by my own doing. My little brother whom will never know the truth._)

This was Sasuke's teammate. This was Sasuke's woman, sitting here, sobbing in fear. This woman that was rumored to be so powerful and so hot-headed. This woman that had just _saved Itachi's life_.

Finally, he manages to stop, and watches her a while before he whispers, "You're Sakura."

xXx

**Bit of a companion piece to **_**In the Hours**_**. Inspired by radfel's **_**Counting**_** on dA. Go check it out and give her some love.**


	8. Seeking Attention

**9) Seeking Attention  
Characters: SaixNaruto, mentions of others  
Description: Sai just wants a little attention, but it takes drastic measures to grab the focus of ever-oblivious Naruto.  
Dedication: Azhwi! … again. Because she was sitting here giggling over the idea with me the whole time. Love you dear!  
Warning: Was going for smut, but... I bailed. Dx LOL BoyxBoy, spoilers, heavy Sai POV  
Rating: M  
Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.  
Word Count: 1889**

xXx

Truthfully, Sai was never sure where Naruto was going to be. From one moment to the next, he was always somewhere else. Sometimes, if Sai concentrated, he could manage to keep up. Others, he just couldn't slow the blond down enough to walk behind him, much less beside him.

It was... _frustrating_. That was the only way the artist could think of to describe the whole irrational situation. He just wanted Naruto to... to _stop_, for one _fricking minute_. Stop, and look at Sai, with those eyes that looked at Sasuke and even Sakura with such pure, beautiful intensity.

He'd tried drawing him, but that didn't work. And while the Chojuu Giga technique made the drawing mobile, it didn't give it a will. It never _would_, and the obsession with possessing that focus, that attention on himself alone, even if for mere seconds, was driving him to mad desperation.

It was a feeling he'd never had before, this desire. It was more than a physical urge. The physical didn't matter to him; that was easily dealt with, either in a kunoichi's room or his own bed and hand. No, he didn't care if Naruto _touched_ him, though that would be nice. He wanted Naruto to _want _him.

He wondered, as Sakura paused one day and gave him a faintly quizzical look, if he was more transparent than he pretended to be. Did his eyes scream 'look at me, see me, crave me!' or were they dull, like the eyes of that bastard Uchiha prodigy? Naruto certainly hadn't noticed, in any case, and if Sakura had, she hadn't yet informed the blond.

Still he yearned, fingers aching to touch, to _draw_... yes, that would be _good_. He could draw all over his blond teammate's body. Spreading ink slowly, teasingly along toned abs, sliding the soft, heavy bristles of the brush down...

He swallowed as he watched the jinchurriki train. How wonderful it would be to capture his wayward attention. _Look at me. Notice me. _But the blond didn't.

Sai's frustration mounted.

xXx

Sasuke was slowly losing his mind, and Naruto just wouldn't _see it_. He was forever chasing after the remnants of his erstwhile teammate, and every time he caught a glimpse, it only served to drive Sasuke further away.

Sai felt like the situation was a bit self-destructive. The blond pushed himself, and pushed himself, but then at the crucial moment... Sasuke was gone, flickering away like a hummingbird on a full stomach.

And each time, Naruto grew sadder, and sadder, and sadder. Slowly, that was all Sai could see in him, despite his bright smile that he pasted on for the world. The smile would remain bright, until Sakura was gone, until Kakashi was gone, until Yamato was gone... until he thought Sai was gone too. Then it would slip away, leaving sad eyes and mechanical movements.

The other teammate wasn't helping at all, either. Sakura was so intensely focused on Sasuke, so obsessive. All she wanted was Sasuke, she _loved_ him, and she simply refused to see how much Naruto loved _her_. Every single time... She just added onto his worries, weighting him down with a promise that Sai still didn't fully understand.

_"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn't get him this time, but... next time. I promised."_

_"Okay, Naruto."_

Sai was tempted to blow up at her, to clue that damn naive woman in... but at the same time, he felt a burning possessive desire to keep his observations to himself. He didn't want Naruto to keep hurting, but... did fixing his precious friend's woes have to mean giving him to her?

Selfishly, he wanted to keep the blond for his own, despite the fact that Naruto still didn't look at him. Not really. Never.

xXx

Finally, it was too much. An attack left Naruto bruised, broken, defeated... begging Sakura's forgiveness for not getting Sasuke back. Sai felt such a heady anger that it was almost a rush, a high he'd never before experienced.

He prepared, waited until Naruto was healed, and then lured the blond away from the others. He may or may not have mentioned training.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked as they walked through the forest outside of Konoha.

Sai didn't give the object of his desire a smile. He couldn't use such a false thing on him. But he nodded ahead of them and answered. "Somewhere special. A cabin, not far from here..." The seal that would take them away lie in wait within, as did the ink clone that would destroy it afterward.

"Oh. What kind of training did you say this was?" Naruto asked, sounding vaguely bemused.

But he wasn't suspicious yet. Good. "A special kind," Sai replied, smiling slightly to himself. "This way," was inserted neatly before Naruto could question him further.

They entered the cabin, and Naruto tensed upon seeing the ink clone, but Sai waved at him. "Relax. It's a clone. It's important for this; we don't want the other Root following."

"What? Why?" Naruto asked, startled.

And there it was, that sudden, intense, aware focus. Sai reveled in it for a moment, before he swallowed and gestured to a seal scroll. "Trust me?" he asked quietly. "Please, Naruto." He stepped onto the scroll and held out his hand, tilting his head.

Those blue, blue eyes narrowed with suspicious uncertainty, but finally Naruto reached out and took Sai's hand, letting his friend pull him onto the scroll. With a twist and a jerk, their surroundings vanished and then altered. Now they stood in the darkness of a bedroom, and Sai smiled again.

"Thank you for trusting me, Naruto." He reached out for a flask sitting on the bedside table as Naruto glanced around in confusion. He took a mouthful and set it down again, then stepped into Naruto's personal space before the blond could really react.

Golden brows furrowed in slowly growing alarm, and Naruto's voice came out slightly harsh. "Sai, what's-"

The artist kissed him, ignoring the worried _thump thump thump _of his heart. When he pulled back, Naruto swallowed dazedly, then blinked. "Wait, what did you just..." He stepped back, but misjudged the distance between himself and the edge of the bed. As a result, he toppled backwards onto it, and Sai took his chance without hesitation.

As Sai pressed the younger, broader male into the matress, Naruto was obviously flailing for purchase in this situation. He went for hurt and anger; feelings of betrayal. "Sai! No, who are you?! You're not-"

Another kiss ripped into that shield of words, and Sai smiled as his hand wandered purposefully down Naruto's side. "I am Sai," he corrected in the brief moment between pulling away and tasting the corner of the blond's jaw.

Naruto shivered, reaching up and grabbing Sai's bicep in an iron hold; the artist mostly ignored it in favor of nibbling his way down the other's throat. "What... what did you force..." He trailed off with a breathy moan. Sai smirked and nibbled that spot, right behind Naruto's ear, prompting the same unsteady reaction.

"Sai... wait," Naruto mumbled, pushing weakly on the other's shoulders. "What are you doing? What's going on..."

Sai huffed and grabbed the blond's wrists, jerking them up over his head and holding them there with one hand. The aphrodisiac was not leaving him as unaffected as he'd assumed it would, but at least Naruto was shivering under its effects too. "Just for now," he pleaded, looking up and meeting blue eyes. "For now, forget everything. _Everything. _Just... look at me."

Naruto tensed beneath him, eyes wide and jaw slack. He was wholly unprepared for this, Sai knew. "Sai...?" He swallowed nervously as Sai continued to look at him, hovering over him and waiting. "I don't... When...?"

"Isn't it okay?" the pale man breathed. "Just us, for now. Let me continue... let me make you forget your worries... just for a while. Smile again, Naruto. For real... please." _Please focus on me, and me __alone._

Very slowly, the muscles in the body beneath him shifted their aim from defense to something else entirely. "Okay," his blond friend whispered, and gave him a faint smile. "Alright."

Sai grinned outright and lowered his mouth to Naruto's throat. Naruto's eyes widened, and then squeezed shut as he moaned. _Aw fuck_.

xXx

In the aftermath, Sai wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen. They both passed out for a while, though he managed to ward the room before doing so. When he stirred again, he briefly felt regret for letting his anger get the better of him. Then he realized there was a warmth against his side, and an arm slung over his waist. He smiled faintly when there was a brief, half-hearted snore, and opened his eyes.

"You're awake," he murmured, knowing he was right.

Naruto's act was absolutely horrible, and he apparently knew as much, because he gave it up instantly, cracking one blue eye and grinning. "You caught me."

"Mm." Sai nodded, eying his companion (lover?) cautiously. They were both naked, and both sprawled out, and neither had made mention of it yet. He wasn't sure if it would be prudent to do so, but he'd read in a book that you shouldn't _ignore _that you'd just had sex. After a moment, he sighed and closed his eyes again.

Naruto's arm tightened in its grasp. "What does this mean?" he asked, sounding a little lost, a little worried.

One dark eye opened again. "What do you want it to mean?" he returned.

The blond shifted his weight, prompting the other dark eye to open, and moved so that he sort of hovered over the slightly older male. "I don't know," he admitted, and though he was in a position to meet Sai's eyes, he couldn't seem to do so. "I... maybe..."

Sai reached up, lightly grasping the other's jaw, and tugging him down into a kiss. "I don't know what it means," he murmured as they parted. "I suppose it means I want to find out."

And even though their fumbling and love-making had been awkward and slightly brought about by a sexual enhancer, neither seemed to mind in the least. Naruto smiled for real for the first time in close to a week. "Me too."

Sai could handle that.

xXx

**I... had a lot of fun writing this. More fun than I've had in a while. O.o Only problem is I'm slightly brutal with poor Sai... -_-; Anyway, yeah, this is the 'not as smutty-ish' version. Bit more detail to the smutty version. That's on my blog, if anyone's actually interested.**


	9. The Lovers

**9) The Lovers**  
**Fandom: Naruto**  
**Characters: ShikSak, Tsunade, mentions of others**  
**Description: "I bet you'll have an unhappy ending." There are few times that Tsunade bets right. She wishes this wasn't one of them.**  
**Dedication: AGENT Kuma-chan**  
**Warning: Angst, spoilers**  
**Rating: T**  
**Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.**  
**Word Count: 443**

Tsunade finds the lovers curled up together in the middle of a battle field. There is destruction everywhere, evidence of pain and sorrow- blood long since congealed and then dried completely. There are other bodies strewn about, torn to pieces or just plain crumbled where they were. However, it is these lovers clinging together that she can't stop staring at.

Sakura's hand holds a kunai still, a bloody blade clutched in a death-stiff grip. Somehow, Tsunade knows that the blood will be his- no, there isn't even a question. His throat is slit, after all, and it's clearly a mercy execution; the evidence is the fatal rent in his chest.

Shikamaru's expression is frozen in regret- he'd known what was coming, perhaps for both of them. By contrast, Sakura is smiling. There is a blade plunged into her back and ripped halfway up. Her murderer lays in pieces behind her; torn away by the wind itself, and Tsunade knows who came to the rescue far too late.

Somewhere behind her, the Hokage can hear Naruto's hysterical sobs. Gaara is still beside him, somber-faced and empty. And the woman can still remember the words spoken a month ago, during the first lull in the war.

_"Shisho... He's everything to me. You are everything to me. Please, we want..." A quick glance at the man beside her, who isn't even trying to hide a lazy grin. Sakura grins too. "We want **you** to wed us, Shisho. Before we won't have the chance."_

_Because Tsunade knows that war brings out both the best and the worst in people, she does as they've asked her to. It is quick, and it is secret. Their only friends present are Gaara and Tsunade herself. Neither Kage seems to mind, and anyway the whole thing makes Gaara smile so it's probably okay in the end._

_Sakura admits that she's glad Naruto isn't here. She has come to hate waiting, and telling him before will just delay it all._

_Tsunade is so over joyed that she makes a bet, just as her gift. "I bet you'll have an unhappy ending," she confides over sake later. They laugh, and carry on. Everyone is happy._

The healer drops to her knees beside the corpses, and she cries. Part of her is aware that Naruto hasn't been told yet, and he will hurt all the worse for it later. She wonders why she couldn't have been wrong. She begs and pleads with the gods to let her wake up, because this just isn't _true_ and she must be dreaming.

There are few times that Tsunade bets right. She wishes this wasn't one of them.

xXx

**Totally came out of nowhere. I wasn't even supposed to be WRITING fanfiction during November (which is when this was written)! I had to save the rest of AGENT Kuma-chan's stuff until after the month. Kept trying to inspire me. Hope you enjoyed. Feedback is desired.**


	10. Progression of Thought

**10) Progression of Thought  
Fandom: Naruto  
Characters: Sakura, Sasuke, implied KakaSak, mentions of others  
Description: It is only now, in this brief moment between seconds, that she truly reconsiders her life choices.  
Warning: Canon-Sak! You've been warned. Ish  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.  
Word Count: 206**

xXx

There are some relationships that will only tear you apart. Sakura has learned this lesson the long and hard way. She has chased her beloved to the ends of the Earth, and he has repaid her by trying to kill her. More than once.

And yet she still hopes. And hopes. And hopes. She ignores his transgressions, his attempts on her life, over and over until the last time- there is no one to save her. No Naruto. No Sai. No Kakashi. No Yamato. She is alone.

He will kill her this time. He is so close, and she can feel the cold warmth of his roaring chidori. It is only now, in this brief moment between seconds, that she truly reconsiders her life choices.

Perhaps she should have spent less time chasing him, and more time paying attention to Naruto, or even Lee. Both have given her ample attention, and devotion, and yet all she could do was selfishly turn her gaze toward Sasuke.

Sasuke who is going to kill her now.

Somehow, her chakra surges to her fist without her consent, and she buries said fist in his face. "SHANNARO!"

So much for that shit; when she gets home, she's paying Kakashi a visit.

xXx

**This... was inspired by canon!Sak... It was supposed to be an angsty, retrospective piece about her pointless devotion to Sasuke, and how she's grown enough that she finally gets over it. Instead it turn into a bit of a comedic drabble. Whoops. (I NEED TO STOP WRITING STUFF!)**


	11. Valentine's Date

**11) Valentine's Date**  
**Fandom: Naruto**  
**Characters: GaaraxShikamaru, Kankuro, Temari, mentions of others**  
**Description: In which things aren't always as they seem, and even leaders can get _terribly confused_.**  
**Dedication: Me. Cuz I needed the love.**  
**Warning: None that I can think of.**  
**Rating: T**  
**Disclaimer: Characters and Naruto do not belong to me, but to Masashi Kishimoto. I am responsible for creating the situation, and the storyline only. Please do not take and use or post elsewhere without my express permission. Thank you.**  
**Word Count: 1746**

xXx

Sunagakure. Known as the Great Desert City. Full of nearly a million people, all going about their daily lives with nary a care in the world.

Gaara turned away from the view as he felt a familiar chakra approaching from the stairwell. His brother stepped up onto the rooftop and gave him a jaunty wave. "Hey, Gaara!"

The redhead took in his sibling's manner of dress and tilted his head. "Date tonight?" he asked softly.

Kankuro chuckled and rubbed a hand over his cloth-covered neck. "Yeah. Am I that transparent?"

"Only to me," was the offhand response. "What did you need?"

His brother switched easily from social to business. "The envoy from Mizu no Kuni has arrived. Interestingly enough, they hired Konoha nin as backup security. Guess to prove that they're taking this thing seriously." He rolled his eyes and offered a shrug. "I've set them up with refreshments and they're waiting on you now."

"And the security?"

"Konoha's relaxing in a lounge, Mizu's in with the delegates."

Gaara nodded and glanced out over the city again, before turning away from it all. It took very little time to get to the room that Kankuro had set the foreigners up in, and when he entered, silence fell. He discovered that Kankuro was only mostly right; there was still one Konoha nin among the party.

Shikamaru looked up at his entrance, and sat back with a wave. "Kazekage-sama," he greeted, voice _dripping_ boredom.

Resisting the sudden and strange urge to smile, Gaara nodded to him and stepped over to his seat. "Good morning," he said. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

There was a low round of 'hello's and 'good morning's, and he continued once they'd finished. "As you know, this is an effort to maintain the treaties made during the third great ninja war..."

As he droned on, the redhead couldn't help but note how _very bored_ the sole Konoha nin appeared to be, the whole time.

xXx

"Gaaraaaa!" The redhead braced himself, even as Temari's arms snapped around his shoulders from behind. "Look at you! Gosh. Anyway! I wanted to request time off tonight. Have a date."

He blinked at her over his shoulder. "A date?" he echoed, frowning. Both of his siblings? Well, stranger things had happened. "I guess."

She pressed a big, sloppy kiss to his cheek, making him grimace. "Awww, thank you! You're so sweet!"

He was left gaping after her when she bounced off again, and his companion snorted. He'd almost forgotten that he was walking with Shikamaru; the other man was so _quiet_.

And Temari was just so very loud. Sighing, Gaara looked at the Nara, brow-ridge wrinkling. "What?" he asked.

"Nah, just appreciating how lucky I am to be an only child," Shikamaru responded, smiling faintly at him.

Gaara had to fight to keep his irritated expression. He eventually gave up and just smiled back. A small smile. Not the weird big grin that wanted to spread over his face. That was... _weird_. "You _are_ lucky," he agreed, quickly shoving aside the train of thought. "Want them?"

"Nope." Shikamaru smirked. "You keep them. Please."

Shaking his head, the shorter man lead the way to his office in silence before getting a scroll out of his desk. "Here, may as well bring this back to your Hokage, if you don't mind."

Accepting it, Shikamaru blinked. "Er, do you mind me asking what it is?"

"Recipe," the redhead grunted. "Temari fed the Hokage her hand-made ramen and the Hokage demanded she give him the recipe sometime."

The dark-haired nin rolled his eyes. "That's Naruto," he admitted, and tucked the scroll into his hip pouch. "Um... Are you... busy tonight?"

Gaara blinked and looked up at him from the assortment of papers he'd been contemplating on finishing. "Hm? No."

The Nara relaxed slightly and smiled. "Want to get something to eat?"

Tilting his head, the green-eyed male considered his companion. He could think of worse ways to spend his time, and there was that strange ability that Shikamaru had, making Gaara want to smile all the time. "Okay," he said succinctly.

"Great. Uhh... know any places?" Shikamaru was doing that strange thing, where he was shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

Gaara eyed him strangely, but then shrugged. "There's a place that sells imported food, called Saki's. We can meet there."

"Seven good?"

"Yes."

Shikamaru smiled.

xXx

Over lunch, Gaara offhandedly mentioned his dinner arrangement to Kankuro. Who promptly choked on his food. "You- wha- I didn't- Oh my god, my brain!" his brother wailed, and buried his painted face in his hands.

The redhead blinked, and simply stared at him. After a few minutes, Kankuro peeked between his fingers and slowly lowered his hands. "... it's not a date?"

_Blink_. Gaara shifted, suddenly feeling rather overheated, and scowled at the older male. "Why would it be a date, you idiot?"

"Oh god, it _is_!" Kankuro edged away from him in horror. "And _Nara_?"

The sand in his gourd began to shift ominously. "What's wrong with Shikamaru-san?" the redhead demanded, eyes narrowing.

Kankuro set down his obento and lifted both hands in surrender. "Nothing, absolutely nothing."

Satisfied, Gaara relaxed, and his sand went still. "And no. It's not a date. I don't know _where_ you got that idea."

Several minutes passed between them, during with neither said a word, and both picked at their food.

"... are you sure he knows it's not a date?" Kankuro ventured inevitably.

"Yes," Gaara growled. Silence. "... why?"

The puppeteer blinked at him in disbelief. "You don't... oh wow, you don't know what day it is!"

The redhead sighed. This back and forth was getting tiresome. "Okay. Clearly you're privy to something that I'm not. So please explain it. All of it."

And so, for the next ten minutes, Kankuro explained Valentine's Day. In the end, Gaara was forced to conclude one thing.

He was going on a date with Shikamaru tonight.

xXx

"I don't like it," Gaara growled at his sister, staring at his reflection. His hair had been dampened and combed back, but it was already returning to its former state. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the tight, black leather pants she had somehow convinced him to force himself into. "I won't be able to sit without tearing them."

Temari gave a long-suffering sigh and put both hands on his shoulders, meeting his gaze in the mirror. "Gaara, dear brother... you're not supposed to sit in them. You're supposed to wear them until he takes them off of you," she said sweetly.

His face turned red in his reflection; clearly there was something wrong with this mirror. "Oh," was all he managed.

His big sister giggled and kissed his cheek, then turned him around to survey him more closely. "Alright, I think this is good."

He shook his head, remembering where they were _going_. "I still can't wear these pants, Temari. We're going out to eat, which means sitting."

Temari gave him a smug look. "Nope. I already sent a change of location to him."

Feeling a bit annoyed with her meddling, he crossed his arms over the loose red shirt she'd talked him into. "And where is that?"

"Home!" She winked and disappeared in a poof of smoke, even as there was a sudden knock on the door.

Gaara paled, slowly turning to look at it. There was another knock, and he could feel Shikamaru's chakra. _I'm going to kill her_, he thought furiously, even as he charged toward the door. He paused, fingers wrapped around the handle, and sighed. No, he wasn't going to kill her.

He tugged open the door to find the other nin looking rather like he was meant to be there. _But I might maim her instead_. "Hello," Gaara greeted, frowning slightly.

Shikamaru shrugged and tugged one hand out of a pocket to give him a wave. "Yo."

The words came tumbling out before Gaara could stop them. "I didn't know it was a date. But Kankuro and Temari said it was. And I panicked. And that's why I'm wearing these ridiculous pants. So... so if they're wrong, you should just leave."

A beat followed that while Shikamaru seemed to process his words. Then he nodded slowly. "Kay," he replied, and closed to door behind him on his way in. "What are we eating?"

A part of the Kazekage untensed at this. "Um... Take out? I don't know. I only just found out I wasn't going to the restaurant. But... they probably planned everything..."

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, they didn't," he replied. He paused, then amended, "Well they planned some of it."

Several minutes later, after the Nara had drifted over to the couch and made himself comfortable, Gaara got it. "Wait, you..."

"Kankuro may have mentioned that you knew _nothing_ about holidays, particularly this one." Shikamaru shrugged. "After lunch, he approached me. He already had some thoughts about the food, and the rest of it was me."

_Even the pants?_ Gaara wondered, looking down.

His train of thought must have been easy to follow, because Shikamaru scoffed and muttered, "No, that was all Temari. I did mention the red shirt though."

Feeling very much like he was missing some crucial detail, the redhead shook his head. Silence fell between them for a moment, and then he muttered, "I can't sit down."

Shikamaru blinked, and his gaze lowered to Gaara's pants. Surprisingly, he smirked. "Your sister is a genius," he declared, even as he got up to "help".

xXx

Three days later, Gaara saw the envoy off and returned to his office, humming softly under his breath. Kankuro smirked at him as he entered the room, but the redhead ignored him. His brother gave up after a while. "So?"

"So. What?" Gaara looked up at him and frowned.

Frowning, his brother crossed his arms. "So, how did it go with Nara? You seem happy, but I can't tell if that means you mauled each other or..." He paused, grimaced. "_Mauled_ each other."

Gaara sneered at the insinuation. "That's none of your business," he replied firmly. "Get out of my office." He bent his head, clearly dismissing his brother from mind.

Silence fell. Then, "Next month?"

"The fifth."

"Okay."

The redhead glanced up, watching his brother wander from the room, and decided he needed to notify Shikamaru of Kankuro's vested interest in their newly discovered relationship.

Also known as, 'we need to visit in Konoha next time'.

xXx

**This was my Valentine to myself.**


	12. Temper Tantrum

**Temper Tantrum  
Characters: ItachixSakuraxKisame, Kankuro, mentions of others  
Description: Unrequited love is a bitch. Literally  
Rating: T (for language)  
Dedication: For Azhwi, for being just plain amazing.  
A/N: Was originally part of the Raven series, which was taken down (unfortunately Dx)**

She moved like a dancer, all graceful twirling and fluid strikes. No, it was more than that. It was as if she was water shifting through the rocks as it swept downstream. Her hands flashed out, and her legs lifted and lunged. Her upper body twisted and jerked like a diverted river.

It was this that made him fall in love. And it was this that made his best friend fall too. And he fell hard.

They stopped talking to each other once they realized it. Stopped going to the same haunts. Stopped their daily sparring.

Eventually, the rivalry came to blows, one night when they were both very drunk by the time they realized they were in the same bar. Kisame called him an arrogant, pampered prat. Itachi refused to give in to the back street mercenary that his friend had always been.

They were both hospitalized for their efforts, Itachi with a broken arm and Kisame with a jagged gash down his back. The Hokage was not happy, especially since they weren't technically both from the same village.

Kisame went back to Mizu. Itachi brooded in the Uchiha compound.

And the worst part about it? Haruno Sakura barely knew either of them existed, and she didn't even know they were fighting over her.

Her friends did, though. Both his brother and the blond found it absolutely hilarious, too, for the aforementioned ignorance on her part. It kind of pissed Itachi off, actually, and he eventually broke down and told her as much.

Sakura turned white in shock, then red in fury, and stomped off. Anyone else, she might have beat. But she knew she couldn't defeat Itachi, and she would only embarrass herself trying.

Next thing Itachi knew, Naruto was pounding on his window frame at one in the morning, yelling at him for 'instigating this shit'.

Sakura had gone to Mizu.

xXx

"I hate you, I hate you, I _HATE YOU_! THERE, YOU HAPPY, YOU BLUE FREAK?! I hate you both so stop fighting over me and MAKE UP ALREADY!"

Hoshigaki Kisame stared at the teary-eyed, pink-haired mednin, stunned. She hated him? No. She hated him fighting with Itachi- actually, what the hell was she doing here? And how had she found out? Itachi probably told her, that conniving bastard.

Sakura scowled at him when he didn't say a word, an awkward silence falling between them. Finally, she straightened and pulled what remained of her dignity around her like a shield, sniffled, rubbed her eyes and spun on her heel. "Well, good-bye then."

He was pretty speechless. What just happened?

… she was walking away. He lifted a hand, opening his mouth to... say something, stop her someway, but she stopped on her own. Shoulders stiff. Head down. Fists clenched. "I don't like you," she said quietly after a moment. "Either of you. I like Sasuke-kun. I've always liked Sasuke-kun..."

He finally found his voice. "He doesn't like you." And his foot.

She started crying all over again, shoulders shaking with the effort to keep it quiet. "I know," she hissed, turning around again.

Somewhere, a god decided to make the moment more dramatic and it started to rain. "I know, alright?! He doesn't give a shit about me! No one matters to that self-absorbed, power-hungry, dick-chewing asshole! Okay? I know! But that doesn't matter, because I still love him! That's what love is, you know! It's- it's making mistakes, and sacrificing everything... and doing things you wouldn't normally do just to make him notice you..." She choked up, covering her face with her hands.

His voice ran away again. Ho-ly-sh-it. … holy shit. Holy-

"Stop saying that!"

Well, apparently it didn't run away, it just felt like introducing him to his foot again. 'Cause that's what feet were for. Sticking them in your mouth, that is. "Uh..."

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME, YOU FREAK! YOU TALK TOO MUCH!" she screamed. She was doing a lot of that. "I'm talking about you! And Itachi. And I was just ignoring it, you know, but I just couldn't! Not after you two stopped fighting because of me, and then just... just LEFT! YOU LEFT! Do you know how that makes me feel? Like _shit_, you fish-faced baboon!"

That was a very contrary insult, he noted.

She wasn't done. "I do not enjoy feeling like _shit,_ Kisame. Not at all! Sasuke makes me feel like shit, and you see how far that's gotten him. NO WHERE! He's still a virgin, you know. Too busy with other stuff. Once upon a time, I would have been MORE THAN HAPPY! But nooo, he's too busy to fucking screw me! LITERALLY!"

Kisame blinked. And felt a little sick. This was his best friend's little brother they were talking about. Er, she was talking about. It was a rather one-sided conversation.

"Oh stop gaping, you look like a fish," she snapped viciously. "Get over yourself and come back, or I will be forced to send Gai and Lee to retrieve you, with the challenge of conversion! AND GREEN SPANDEX!" And with that, she spun around and stalked off, every inch the woman scorned.

Kisame stood in the rain for a moment, before going home to pack his bags. No one wanted green spandex. It wasn't even funny.

xXx

Itachi was all ready to go after her. His brother informed him that if he did, he would be maimed. Itachi ignored him and was at the gate by the time she got back. Kisame was with her.

He blinked, watching the two walk through the gates to stop in front of him. She prodded his chest. "Itachi?"

"Hn?" He tilted his head.

She reached up and grabbed both sides of his face before dragging him down into a steamy kiss. Years later, she shoved him away and stalked off, muttering about dense idiots and the intense need for perhaps some sashimi. Maybe she should invite Anko...

Itachi looked at Kisame, still a little off-kilter. "What just happened?"

Kisame shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure. Been asking myself that since Mizu."

"You- she was gone for a day and a half," Itachi pointed out uncertainly.

Kisame gave him a sage nod. "She was very pissed."

"Oh."

xXx

And somewhere in Suna, Kankuro sneezed.

xXx

The End


End file.
